Labour Notes letter - 2012

Labour Notes (you guys really should get around to correcting the typo in your title) is always the place to go for info and encouragement on issues, news and actions that don’t get a lot or much attention elsewhere.  So, thanks.

A good example is Ruth Needleman’s “Making Global Solidarity Real’.  But as much as I appreciated her analysis, there’s one trend in global solidarity actions and organizing that she doesn’t cover: the self-organizing that many workers are engaging in that doesn’t take place through or with their unions’ institutional connections.  Those unions may support these efforts, but they’re not directly responsible for them.

There’s a whole lot going on at the workplace level as workers connect directly to other workers using the internet.  The project I’m involved in, LabourStart, regularly responds to requests by workers in one country wanting a contact amongst their co-workers in another.  GM workers in Canada wanting to connect with GM workers in Korea was the direct inspiration for this letter.  The former had read on LabourStart about the latter heading towards a strike in July.  A quick e-mail and the connection is made.

Similarly, there are other efforts, like RadioLabour (see www.radiolabour.net or subscribe on iTunes) that work to try and raise the profile of struggles around the world an in that way build an understanding of the importance of international work by providing a 5 minute dose of solidarity in the form of an internet radio show.  Monday through Thursday 40,000 listeners get 5 minutes of news about workers and their unions from around the world, with a 10 minute weekly update each Friday.

Less than a month old is Revoluntionizing Retail, a one-stop shopping site for retail workers looking to change their working lives. See http://revolutionizingretail.org.  Right now limited to North America, it has the potential to grow into something much bigger.

As these volunteer-based ‘unofficial’ but union-supported efforts are working at the rank-and-file level of the movement, there’s some interesting ‘top-down’ (sometimes that can be a good thing) work being done too.  As Ruth noted in their article, unions as organizations are becoming more and more international in their organizing efforts.  One effort she didn’t mention is Union Solidarity International, a project of Unite (UK).  It combines a real commitment of resources by a union with a long history of international engagement with an understanding that for global solidarity to have a real impact on our work as trade unionists it has to reach deep down into the union and it has to have a direct and discernible impact on the work of local unions.

So USI (see http://usilive.org) carries print news, produces a weekly podcast and acts as a portal to Unite branches (locals) looking to be twinned with a local union somewhere out there in the world.

All great resources for anyone looking to organize more effectively in their workplace on the need for globalization of our kind, not theirs.

Eric Lee, Gaza, LabourStart, Me and 900 Comrades- A Screed

LabourStart is composed of almost 900 volunteer trade unionists around the world.  101 in Canada alone (where I reside).  We operate largely autonomously from each other.  While Eric is prominent among them/us as webmaster and founder, he does not determine LabourStart editorial policy. 

He can’t because other than ‘collect news from and about unions and workers organizations’ we have none.  Nor do we need one or have any structural mechanisms for determining one.  Or, and perhaps I speak only for myself, any interest in developing one.  Frankly I am not sure I would remain involved if we attempted to develop one.

We are not subject to any organizational discipline beyond the most basic (guided by, I am rather pleased to say, a modified version of the CUPE Equality Statement). We are not a political formation.  Anyone joining our merry band with that expectation quickly moves on.

LS has other volunteers, including myself, who have taken much different positions than Eric on the current events in Palestine and on the BDS movement in their personal capacities and whose unions have taken a wide variety of positions as well.  And many, frankly, who are of no opinion or who have not heard of the boycott call.  Believe it or not there are places and unions where the issue is not pressing or is unknown to most union activists.

In fact LS has taken no position and won't - because it doesn't need to in order to do what it does.  With or without a policy regarding the Gaza invasion or BDS it is our task to cover the trade union news relating to Palestine as we would in any other nation. You may have noted that to date LabourStart has covered both sides in the debate on a boycott of Israel and a wide variety of positions taken by unions around the world regarding the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

In the past we have covered similar controversies from all perspectives when unions took positions.  When unions did not take a position then there was and will be no coverage on LabourStart.  We reflect the activities of and debates within and between legitimate trade unions.  We will continue to do so.  Taking a position in any such debate would be both structurally difficult if not impossible for LabourStart, but would also (in my opinion) be contrary to our goals.

It would also likely be the end of LabourStart.  Any very broad, inclusive global coalition like ours which tried to impose discipline on its participants on more than a very few very fundamental issues would be splitting on a regular and frequent basis. 

LabourStart is a coalition of trade unionists who share only our interest in using the internet to better connect and inform trade unionists around the world.  Beyond that we may or may not share analyses of any number of situations but this is irrelevant to what we do at LabourStart.  We work hard at ensuring this. 

Another, though not as extreme, example of this is the question of faith-based trade unions.  In my country, Canada, such things are anathema and the one ‘union’ that operates on this basis is shunned by the rest of the labour movement here.  I personally will not post stories from this 'union' to LabourStart and I encourage others to stop when I see such stories on our site.  But I am not in a position to impose any organizational discipline on them and stop it from happening.  I may wish I could at times, but I can't and shouldn't.

In other parts of the world confessional trade unionism is the norm.  Where LabourStart volunteers from those countries have posted stories about the Christian Labour Association of Canada to LabourStart I have asked that they be removed and they have been.  However I am not inclined to attempt to impose a ‘no-confessional-unions’ policy on LabourStart.  Nor is there any mechanism for me to do so.  If there was and I was successful in pressing the case for a ban on religion-specific union news then we would see virtually no news from countries like The Netherlands and Belgium.

All that said, as volunteers all of us connected to LabourStart have other lives.  We work, we write, we do our union and political work.  In those capacities we have opinions and we express them.  Eric is perhaps more identified with LabourStart than any of us, but that does not make his opinions LabourStart policy on this issue.

If Eric’s views are somehow to be made synonymous with something perceived to be ‘LabourStart’s policy’ or ‘LabourStart’s position’ on the Israel-Palestine conflict then why not mine?  Or why not those of our Indian or Ukrainian or South African or Cambodian or Dutch volunteers?

We as LabourStart have none now and have no intention of taking a position in future.  What we do plan to do is cover as much of the trade union debate on the subject as we can find.

As individuals we of course do and we will, I would expect, organize and act in support of our personal positions and those of the unions and political formations we are affiliated with.

As LabourStart, other than collecting news, we provide a campaigning service available to the global labour movement – as we are currently doing by running a campaign the ITUC wanted regarding its call for a ceasefire in Gaza.  If the critics of that call and the analysis behind it want to take it on I would suggest they do that through their unions and national central labour bodies.  As a very loose coalition of volunteers, most of whom are rank-and-file trade unionists with day jobs, LabourStart is incapable of and has no desire to develop the capacity to analyze struggles around the world, determine if they are legitimate, decide if they conform to a shared political analysis and position  and build a strategy that does more good than harm.  For that we (must) rely on the decisions of the institutions of the labour movement – unions, national centres, the GUFs and the ITUC.  Otherwise we risk doing far more harm than good, despite our intentions.

My only (comradely I hope) suggestion for those who regularly try to make hay by attacking LabourStart as a way to get at Eric or as a backhanded way of taking on his analysis is that you take him on directly.  It’s not like he is hard to contact.

But threatening, as a few people do each time this 'debate' erupts, to somehow undermine Eric's position by denying support to workers out there somewhere engaged in a struggle with an employer or a government, sometime a life or death struggle, strikes me as...well, I said I would try to be comradely in this so I will withhold my opinion on that point.

But I will say this: I challenge those who attack LabourStart because of Eric’s association with it to present evidence of a bias in the stories we collect.  Further, I’d invite them to apply for a LabourStart account and post the stories they think we’re missing.

And in the meantime, recognize that LabourStart and Eric are two different entities and that attacking LabourStart only serves to undermine not just the most successful effort at global digital solidarity for workers there is, but the ONLY such effort around.

Windsor Strike Rally Audio and Photos

I attended the Windsor muni strike rally yesterday. Two locals out for two months over a demand for an end to retiree benefits - by a city council that gives itself lifetime benefits.

I used my cute little Thumbtack to record some march noises and a few speeches. They're available off the FILES section on my UnionBook page HERE.

Stills of the march and rally are on Flickr HERE.

UnionBook Still in Beta, But Getting Great Reviews

http://blog.comfia.net/webmaster/esindicato/2009/01/17/unionbook-la-red-social-internacional-para-sindicalistas.-no-es-facebook

http://www.pcsshropshire.selfip.org/newspage/?p=596

UnionBook is Here!

It won't replace Facebook for keeping in touch with the grandkids (nor is it intended to), but UnionBook is LabourStart's social networking site for the union-friendly worldwide.

Give it a spin.

Labour's Global Photo Album

LabourStart's Union group on the photosharing site Flickr.com (that's right, no 'e') just hit the 400 members mark. That means there are 400 trade unionists around the world with photography as a hobby who are posting their work to our group.

At almost the same time we saw (literally) the 3,701st photo posted to the group, the latest being a shot of Kamal Abu Eita announcing the formation of the Independent General Union of the Real Estate Tax Collectors in Egypt. I’m mentioning this because this photo illustrates (pardon the play on words) the geographical diversity of the subjects of the photos in the group. Unlike much of what’s on Flickr, our group isn’t quite so focussed on the global north.

If you haven’t already visited the group, do so at:

http://flickr.com/groups/union/

Union Bloggers Starter Kit

A while ago I mentioned the TIGMOO British union blog aggregator. Canadian labour blogs cover a lot of ground and deserve an aggregator like TIGMOO. Examples are so numerous and the quality of the postings so impressive I thought seriously about not providing any examples, just because I didn’t want to leave anything or anyone out.

But, at the risk of p*&&ing some of you off, here are few URLs that will take you to interesting examples of what unions and workers are doing with this mostly free online tool. I’ve used as examples blogs I’ve watched develop almost from when they were created, so apologies for the CUPE/LabourStart focus..

Larry Hubich is a LabourStart correspondent. In his spare time he’s the President of the SFL and a blogger whose postings get a lot of attention from the mainstream media in Saskatchewan, particularly as the SFL led the fight to turn back the Saskatchewan Party’s legislative agenda against workers:

http://larryhubich.blogspot.com/

A Vancouver CUPE local (“the brave and beautiful Vancouver Public Library workers “) involved in long and eventually successful struggle used a blog to keep members updated on bargaining and strike issues/procedures and such:

http://www.cupe391.ca/blog2/

Note the resources listing along the right side of the page. Videos, photos on Flickr, documents, links to other local blogs (a convention blog among them) and shortcuts to blog entries by subject are all listed.

CUPE 1356 represents service and security workers at York University in Toronto. Content on the local’s blog is pretty eclectic. Everything from news of other university sector settlements through notices from the employer, to health news and tips for the local’s older members.

http://cupe1356.blogspot.com/

And, once again, check out the shortcuts listed on the right side of the page. Members with internet access will find answers to a lot of the ‘usual’ questions here. And, better yet, they can do things like support other workers.

Note too that the CUPE 1356 blog lets a number of ‘authors’ add content. So it’s updated more frequently and reflects a broader range of interests.

The apparent sophistication of these blogs can be discouraging: can anyone really get on the web and start blogging about bargaining? About health and safety issues? About your cousin’s wedding? Can any of us have a sharp-looking a blog as these? As resource-rich?

Yep.

With minimal computer skills you can go to the site below and have a reasonable blog up and running in 20 minutes. Or your money back (no risk in that on my part, the service is free).

http://www.blogger.com/

You even get help with formatting and designing your blog. You’ll have a choice of designs, you pick the one you like, including colours.

Want to change the design after you’ve gone to all the trouble of adding content? No problem. A few clicks and it’s done.

In fact it’s so simple that the only real problem you’ll likely run into is a shortage of content. If you’ve created a union blog and told people it’s there and launched it with a bit of a splash, not updating it regularly afterwards is gonna cost you most of your readers.

Some content you are just going to have to generate your self. But if you’re thinking about a blog, then you likely have some in mind, almost ready to go. In fact it’s likely material you would be putting out anyway in the form of updates, newsletters and the text of media releases and such.

But do be forewarned on one point: at the audience’s end there will be an appetite for regular updates and you’ll have to think hard and mebbe consult even harder to determine what frequency that is, exactly. Weekly? Quite possibly. Daily: probably not, but when things are poppin’, for sure. Monthly? At least, and that’s likely too infrequent.

You can ‘borrow’ content from other sources. Photos on Flickr can be made to automatically appear on your blog (see Flickr.com for info). You can link to You Tube videos. You can add newswires like LabourStart’s or the ones many national unions now produce.

You can link to other sites and to other blogs. Add a few bits of text about why you think your audience would want to read something located elsewhere and you’ve just added new content to your site.

One small cautionary note: remember there are legal implications to your content. Not just the questions of libel and all that (don’t say anything on your blog you wouldn’t say in a newsletter and you’re fine), but also those of copyright. If you’re using someone else’s work either just link to it or ask permission.

Better yet, look for material that isn’t copyrighted but instead is available under a Creative Commons licence. Credit the creator and you can pretty much use CC licensed material anywhere, so long as you’re not making a profit from it.

For more info on the Creative Commons concept see the, you guessed it, CC blog:

http://creativecommons.org/

The last warning about blogging is the best bit. It’s addictive. So if you’ve budgeted an hour a week for updating your local’s or caucus’ blog, instead set aside about five. You’ll use them. All.

Me and Facebook: An Update

Since the review of FB appeared in Our Times, I snuck back on to keep in touch with a grandkid who had moved to the UK for work. It wasn’t long before the bug got me though, and I got booted-off for the third, and last (I swear!) time.

This time it was support for the striking eggheads at York U. I posted info about a the CUPE e-campaign on the walls of as many union-related groups as I could find.

Facebook figures that was me spamming, even though the groups on whose walls I posted the info were all union-focused and they received no complaints. So gone I was.

Speaking of the Bad Book, we’ve been reminded that Facebook is as good an organizing tool for the anti-union folks (in this case business students at York U) as it is for us. Aside from the groups themselves, there have been several (thankfully small) anti-strike rallies organized using FB. As well as a couple of technically impressive blogs.

SoliComm for Searches!

Funny how when you search for something union-wise using Google, you get adverts on the right side of your screen from companies promising to keep you union-free, or which will
happily recruit, train and deliver scabs into your workplace.

Yum. Just what a local union activist wants to see first thing in the morning.

There is a union-friendly search engine alternative called SoliComm, which has a bunch of cool features like discussion forums and support for multiple languages. Brought to us by the good folks at ACTRAV, the Worker Activities Programme section of the ILO (International Labour
Organization), the project is headed by Marc Bélanger. When a Canadian Union of Public Employees staffer, Marc was responsible for SOLINET, the first real international union presence on the Internet.

If SoliComm does for web searches what SOLINET did for online union communications, at your retirement lunch you’ll be able say you were there when the ball first started rolling.

Give it a whirl at http://www.solicomm.net/.

And then make it the search site your members can access through your local’s website.

E-Recording Our History

The labour movement is more often making history than celebrating it. Making our history accessible is one thing, making that historical record something we can all contribute to is something the web (in it’s 2.0 version) has made possible.

http://www.activism.ca/ is the online place to record the history of your union’s struggles (or anyone else’s for that matter).

The site is a Wiki, meaning (like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.org) it is a collaborative effort amongst everyone who signs up. You can not only enter information about, say, your local’s recent strike, but you can contribute to articles on broader topics. So, for example, if your union has recently had an organizing or health and safety victory, you can enter the story of those victories in topic areas covering union organizing or workplace health and safety. Link the stories of your union’s struggles on your site.

Farzad May Hang Today

This morning we received news that jailed Iranian teacher union activist Farzad Kamangar may be hanged within the next few hours.

According to the Education International, he has been taken from his cell in Tehran's Evin prison in preparation for execution. The guards have told him he is about to be executed and they are making fun of him, calling him a martyr.

LabourStart's urgent action is now live, here:

http://www.labourstart.org/farzad

UPDATE: we (LabourStart) have been having some technical problems as a result of the hight volume of traffic to our site in response to this appeal.

You can also send a message via the EI (the global union federation for education workers) website at:

http://www.ei-ie.org/en/urgentactionappeal/show.php?id=12&country=iran

York Strike Updates

For updates on the CUPE 3902 strike see the union's strike site at:

York University strike information

If you're a blogger or websteward, add the York Uni Strike newswire to your site by following the simple instructions at:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/lnw/show.pl?url=http://www.labourstart.org/rdf/york.js

Say "Bah, Humbug" to Exploitive Presents

This is about as christmasie as I can get...originally published at Straight Goods in 2007.

Make sure that what you buy was fairly made and fairly traded.

Surveys consistently suggest that Canadians are willing to pay higher prices for goods they know are produced fairly — a fair price being paid for goods produced in a sustainable fashion by workers paid a living wage in safe conditions. Except, maybe, at this time of year.

The holidays are supposed to make us all feel warm and fuzzy... about moving lots of money from our pockets into retailers' cash registers. Advertisers, retailers and major manufacturers count on sentimentality and peer pressure to override concerns about ethics and the human and environmental effects of our purchasing decisions.

Between Fair Trade Organizations and the No Sweat campaigns, you can find a lot of trendy clothes and shoes online.

Blizzards of ads cajole us to find the best deals on the most stuff, on the theory that a good deal on some stuff will allow us to get more stuff overall. People who would normally never darken the doors of a Wal-Mart feel the pressure to buy and give lots (especially to children, teaching them to consume lots as early as possible) within a limited budget. Somehow even with some really good deals on all the stuff we buy, we wind up spending more than we expected to.

Recent alarms about toxic toys have highlighted questions about working conditions as well as product safety. Many parents, especially, are seeking safe and perhaps less commercial alternatives for gifts this year. In response, unions and non-profit agencies are suggesting several ways for consumers to enjoy a guilt-free holiday season.

OXFAM Canada and other international development NGOs have been slowly building the Fair Trade market in this country for decades. But it is Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit Fair Trade Organization (FTO) founded by American Mennonites in 1946, that has come closest to making fair trade an issue in North America for 'non-ideological' consumers. Ten Thousand Villages has grown to include 160 stores in North America. It is riding a wave. Well, perhaps 'ripple' is a better word, given the size of the capitalist ocean.

Some estimates put the growth sales rate for Fair Trade products at 60 percent per year. Next step, perhaps: a fair trade purchasing policy for Parliament (as there is for the EU Parliament).
Part of their success comes from steady expansion of their product lines. Fair trade has come a long way from when all right-thinking folk would feel the need to buy Nicaraguan coffee in support of the Sandinistas, even when their tastes secretly ran more to tea and hot chocolate.

Browse your local or online Fair Trade retailer. There's no longer a need to choose between your conscience and the look on the recipient's face when they open your present. The clothing segment of the market has grown beyond peasant skirts and hemp caftans, to include items that would look at home in corporate boardrooms (if they ever got there).

Even the lucrative toy market is seeing some penetration by Fair Trade manufacturers. And no, before you ask: we're not talking about 'rustic' wooden trains and rag dolls, but products that compete with the more commercial stuff.

Chinese-made toys hold about 85 percent of the Canadian toy market. With the recent concerns about cheap toys from China (even if most of the decisions about what to put in and on them was made at corporate HQs in the US), toys alone may be on the verge of making a break-through for the Fair Trade movement.

Given that the worldwide 'traditional' toy market (excluding electronic games and such) is valued at $65 billion a year, even a small dent in the market would be a huge boost for FTOs.
Most FTOs deal with suppliers who are essentially self-employed. They produce local crafts from local materials. That doesn't help you much if the grandkids are demanding the latest in trendy gear and you suspect that a nice hand-made pair of sandals won't substitute for the latest running shoes.

Fortunately, the No-Sweat movement (think of it as a subset of the FTOs) has had more than enough of an impact on clothing producers in particular that you can find the right gear.
There's still some debate about the effects of the agreements Global Union Federations have negotiated with companies like Nike, but you and your favourite search engine won't have any trouble finding clothing for young adults that is union-made (a pretty reliable indicator).

Admittedly, stores that sell entirely Fair Trade stock are still few and far between right now. If you live outside a major city (or just want to avoid the crowds), you can find Fair Trade outlets online. See some suggestions below.

Bear in mind that, online or in person, caveat emptor still applies. Canada has no regulations governing company claims to be selling Fair Trade goods. The industry remains largely self-regulating. Buy from a reputable retailer and look for the logos of Transfair Canada and the Fairtrade Labelling Organization International.

Don't be completely turned off if the potential gift you're looking at doesn't bear one of those endorsements. Getting certified as Fair Trade can be expensive for small producers and can take some time. If the retailer is reputable and can explain the lack of approval, go ahead and buy. The (fair) profits from the sale may help bring approval a little closer.

The Canadian Labour Congress produces a handy guide to seat-free shopping, available online. OXFAM can help too. And the Brits, long-time leaders in the Fair Trade movement internationally, have lots of info online.

Give yourself a present this year. Instead of exhaustion and credit card overload, celebrate the season with a bit of smug self-congratulation.

After all, you deserve a little something from yourself for the holidays.

Derek Blackadder is a National Representative with the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Ontario, and Senior Correspondent for LabourStart.org, the international trade union news and campaigns website. He gets very anxious even thinking about Christmas. This year his family are all getting donations to Horizons, an international development NGO he approves of, as holiday presents.

For more information please use the following links and the ones below.

www.ethicalpurchasing.bcics.org/?p=128
www.fairtrade.org.uk/pr011106.htm
psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/2006/11/fair_trade_holi.html
www.nosweatapparel.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=N&Affiliate=labourstart
canadianlabour.ca/updir/toys2007English.pdf

Related addresses:

eMail 1: Derek.Blackadder@sympatico.ca
URL 1: www.horizons.ca/
URL 2: www.ecosherpa.com/green-business/green-christmas-shopping-in-canada/
URL 3: www.cbc.ca/news/background/fair-trade/

Wal-Mart Closes Second Unionized Shop

Argh!

For full coverage in both languages, see LabourStart's Canada page:

http://www.labourstart.org/Canada

Solidarity: Supporting Migrant Workers Organizing

Conference in Ottawa that includes a short (ha!) bit by your humble blogger re. online tools.

Details here:

http://www.jewittmorrison.ca/events.htm

First Ever LabourStart Photo Contest Underway

2008 marks the first (of many we hope) LabourStart Labour Photo of the Year Contest.

The worldwide popularity of the Trade Unions group on Flickr.com suggests that there are a lot of talented picket line and workplace photographers out there. LabourStart would like to both encourage and recognize those talents.

First prize is a two year Pro account on Flickr.com. Runners-up shall receive a one year Pro account. The top three photos will be featured on LabourStart and announced to the 54,000 trade unionists on our mailing list. They will also be displayed in the art gallery on the union island in Second Life.

In addition, LabourStart will work to place the winning photos with labour publications (online and paper) worldwide. And of course it will be featured on LabourStart as our Photo of the Week.

This is a judged and voted competition.

First, photos entered in the contest will be posted on Flickr. Public comments on the photos will be welcomed. A panel of three distinguished trade union photogs will select the finalists.

The winners will then be selected by a vote open to anyone on the LabourStart mailing list. If you've participated in our Labour Website of the Year contest then you know how this works.

Panel: David Bacon, Gretchen Donart, Mac Urata.

Rules:

1. You may only submit your own work.

2. Only one photograph per entrant.

3. Photos should be, very broadly, of union members in action. At work, in struggle...surprise us! They must have a caption explaining the image.

4. When posting your photo on Flickr you should understand that you are allowing LabourStart to use your photo for contest purposes and to publicize the contest.

5. Entrants may be required to disclose to LabourStart their contact information, including their real names, in order to be qualified. This information will be kept strictly confidential if requested.

6. Photos must be entered via Flickr. If you do not already have an account you can register at no cost at http://flickr.com/. Once on Flickr you can upload your photos to your account. Then join the group you can find here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/labourphotos/ . Then, when you view the photo you want to enter in the contest click on the 'send to group' button along the top of your image. A list of the groups you are a member of while appear. Click on 'Labour Photo of the Year' and you will have entered!

It's simpler than it sounds, really. And we're not getting anything from Flickr for using them, we just think the contest, in addition to recognizing all that photographic talent out there, is a great way to build the Unions group already established there.

Photos must be in place on Flickr by midnight (CUT) on 22 September 2008 to be considered. Voting will start as soon as the judges have selected the finalists.

Contact meat derek.blackadder@gmail.com with any questions, including help in setting-up a Flickr account or in uploading and entering photos