Walmart actions spread in U.S. & Canada

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5) Reduce the workweek to 30 hours with no cut in pay, and cut the retirement age to 55. Provide unemployment and retirement payments at We propose an EMERGENCY CONGRESS OF LABOR to discuss and 6) To combat inflation: A sliding scale of wages and pensions that match­ 1) Bail out the people, not the bankers! Open the account books of the es the rises in comsumer prices. To combat high medical costs: A free, banks to full public inspection. Nationalize the banks to be supervised by 7) Immediate citizenship for all undocumented workers. No job discrimi­ 2) No foreclosures! No forced evictions! Cancel usurious debt payments, nation; equal pay for equal work — regardless of gender, sexual orienta­ and reduce mortgage payments in proportion to their capitalist-caused 8) Nationalize manufacturing, big agribusiness, energy, and transporta­ 3) Full employment at union wages! An emergency public works program tion corporations and place them under the control of elected committees to employ all jobless workers and youth! Employ people to build what we need — low-cost quality housing, efficient mass transportation, cheap and 9) To mobilize support for the demands it adopts, the EMERGENCY renewable sources of power, schools, clinics — and to conserve our water, CONGRESS should organize ACTION COMMITTEES in every workplace and neighborhood threatened by the crisis. These committees can draw up 4) Immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops and mercenaries from Iraq & Afghanistan! No war on Iran! Close all U.S. bases abroad! No money for 10) To put all these measures into effect, we need a LABOR PARTY — the military — use funds instead for public works! Convert the war indus­ based on a fighting union movement and all people who are oppressed tries to making products for people’s needs and to combat global warming.

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Following the success of the numer­ ous strikes and job actions for American Walmart workers, the struggle to win respect for non-unionized workers is spreading across the continent. A week after the Black Friday (Nov. 23) walkout, hundreds of workers from fast-food res­ taurants across New York City staged a cross-workplace strike for better wages.

While these strikes and job actions were years in the making for labour organizers, new workers’ associations are now being forged in Canada. The United For Respect campaign began in November, aiming to give Canadian employees of retail chains such as Sobeys, Price Choppers, and IGA a voice in their workplace. It started in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I went to Winnipeg to join other young activists from across Canada to help launch the project. We took part in the initial work of talking to employees, and giving them information about how to organize themselves. We went to stores, gathered contact information, and talked to the workers there about the problems they face. We knocked on doors, trying to reach out to as many workers as possible.

We even took time out of our busy schedules to at­ tend a rally at the Manitoba Legislature against the Is­ raeli assault on Gaza, which was happening then. De­ spite resistance from managers, we were successful in holding the first general meeting for the Organization United for Respect (OUR) project, where we reached out to workers and community allies.

With the first members signed-up, the task now is to build strength in numbers in these work places, while Editor: Michael Schreiber Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor.

— $10 for six months — $20 for 12 months ­ Name Address City State Phone E-mail continuing to dialog with new members, until a critical mass is attained. At this point, the work­ ers will have the knowledge and experience to develop demands against the corporate bosses, and carry out job actions.

These new workers’ associations show a new direction for the labour movement. For the first time in nearly a century, we are seeing masses of non-unionized workers walking off the job and striking for better conditions. United Food and Commercial Workers, the force behind the original OUR organizing drive, realized that previously it had hit a brick wall.

Faced with harsh anti-union tactics from Walmart and other employers, the union lead­ ership decided that instead of giving up and ac­ cepting the anti-worker encroachment, it was time to think outside of the box.

Zip Marty Goodman / Socialist Action • Ashland, Ore.: [email protected] • Boston: [email protected] (781) 630-0250 • Carrboro, N.C.: (919) 967-2866, [email protected] • Chicago: P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657, [email protected] • Connecticut: (860) 478-5300 • Duluth, Minn.: [email protected]. www.thenorthernworker.blogspot.com • GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.: [email protected] • Kansas City: [email protected] (816) 221-3638 • LOUISVILLE, KY.: [email protected], (502) 451-2193 • Madison, Wis.:

[email protected] • Mankato, Minn.:

[email protected] • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 802-1482, [email protected] The result is a new way forward, based on learned tactics from the past. The prec­ edent now being set opens the door for a wider variety of methods to use. Most im­ portantly, it enables the participation of all workers, no matter how repressive their employers are towards organization.

What we are witnessing could be the start of a new chapter in labour history. Now that the established law and courts-based meth­ od of worker organization is no longer seen as the only way to do things, there can be a return to the grassroots, militant spirit that gave birth to the workers’ movement.

If more unions and labour activists seize upon this and apply these methods, we could begin to witness a labour renais­ sance. Like a sapling growing out of the smouldering ashes of the destructive forces of neo-liberalism, the fight for equality, jus­ tice, and respect in the workplace may be reborn. n On Dec. 18, a protest took place at the Port of New­ ark, N.J., when a ship transporting Walmart T-shirts from Bangladesh was to dock there (see photo above). Some 60 protesters gathered at about 8 a.m. to draw attention to Walmart’s procurement of T-shirts from sweatshops that violate basic safety codes in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

The horrific fire at the Tazreen apparel factory in Ban­ gladesh, which killed 112 workers in November, was mak­ ing clothes for Walmart, according to leaked documents (The New York Times, Dec. 5, 2012). A Walmart director of “ethical sourcing” said in minutes leaked to The Times that correcting glaring fire and electrical safety issues at 4500 factories was not “financially feasible for the brands to make such investments.” Walmart is the biggest com­ pany in the world. — MARTY GOODMAN • New York City: (212) 781-5157 • Philadelphia: [email protected] • Portland, Ore.: (503) 233-1629 [email protected] • Providence: [email protected] (401) 592-5385 • Salem, Ore.: [email protected] • San Francisco Bay Area:

P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, Ca 94610 (510) 268-9429, [email protected] • WASHINGTON, DC: [email protected], (202) 286-5493 National Office

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