Gaby recounts the story of an organizing campaign at a café in Montréal, where baristas successfully negotiated a raise and benefits. Workers initially avoided identifying as a union, and framed themselves as trying to improve […]
The Women’s Strike, Reconsidered
Marianne Garneau reviews Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto. In a new book, Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto (Verso, 2019), Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya and Nancy Fraser put forward the “women’s strike” as the much-needed reinvention […]
Solidarity and Power in the Face of a Terrified Employer: The IWW campaign at Frite Alors
Frite Alors is a small restaurant franchise in Quebec with about ten locations. In 2015, an organizing campaign began at the Rachel Street location – one of the locations owned by the founder. Here, a […]
Administering Hardship or Strike Funds
Recently, the Seattle branch of the IWW created a hardship fund to assist workers involved in an IWW organizing campaign (referred to in this piece as a “job branch”). We spoke to the treasurer, a […]
What are strikes really about? A reply to Dionne Pohler
Nick Driedger and Marianne Garneau respond to an editorial in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix about the strike at the Saskatoon Co-op. In a recent editorial in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Dionne Pohler, a professor at […]
Organizing in the Bad Old Days: The Harvest Collective drive, 1998-1999
Patrick McGuire recounts an organizing drive at a grocery coop in Winnipeg in the late 1990s, before the IWW developed its Organizer Training program. I went to a Propagandhi concert in 1993 and decided to […]
Candy store workers speak out
This essay, about organizing at a popular candy store in Halifax called Freak Lunchbox, was distributed yesterday among local cafés and retail establishments by the K’jipuktuk – Halifax IWW. It was written by former employees of the candy […]
Is it worth filing a ULP?
Liss Waters Hyde tells the story of an Unfair Labor Practice complaint filed against the New York IWW which did little to deter the branch from pursuing justice for migrant workers. Filing an Unfair Labor […]
“It’s Up To Us”: A reflection on the LAUSD strike and contract with teacher Tammy Matz
Tammy Matz has been an LAUSD public school teacher for almost eighteen years and currently teachers third grade at Melrose Elementary school, while also serving as that school’s UTLA Chapter Chair (the equivalent of “steward” […]