Striking workers call for Occupy to join their pickets

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

East Bay activists have been coordinating with workers at American Licorice corp, who are on strike for Health Insurance. The situation at the picket line has intensified, and the workers at the Red Vines factory have put out a call for people to help them come support pickets so the workers can rest, as they have been after 24-hour picketing since the 5th. This picketing will be going on tomorrow and for as long as possible until the company agrees to more talks.

This is not an action that has been raised at Occupy Oakland General Assembly, but local occupiers are among those involved in this action.
Here is where the driveway blockade is happening:
American Licorice Company

2477 Liston Way
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 487-5500

More information will soon be available on the new Twitter feed: twitter.com/licoricestrike (http://www.twitter.com/licoricestrike)

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Updates:

Today a picket line of 100 workers and 50 people from Occupy apparently blocked entrance and prevented owner from entering the facility. Cops pushed picket line back.

From Boots Riley: "There's a shuttle that will pick folks up from Union City BART @ 1:45 to help w the strike"

[Binh]

Great news update.

[Seth]

Good, maybe now workers will take the lead in the occupy movement instead of petty bourgeois subculture types.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Here's an ad the company placed for replacement workers: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mnu/2781378735.html

[citizen of industry]

Here's an ad the company placed for replacement workers: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mnu/2781378735.html

"Please note: STRIKE CONDITIONS PREVAIL" - Hahaha. American Licorice corp. is looking for scabs to break a picket line. If you have experience being a filthy scab and breaking picket lines, this is the job for you. Please note: We do not provide health insurance.

Why not use Revleft for something useful? Let's do a little write in campaign, replying to the craigslist ad. I'll send a little message inquiring why I would want to work for a company that refuses to negotiate with its workers and hires scabs to break a picket line.

[citizen of industry]

I applied to the job with this message:


Mr. John Nelson,

I was interested in this job description until I noticed the line, "Please Note: STRIKE CONDITIONS PREVAIL." This leads me to believe this job posting is designed to hire workers for the sole purpose of breaking a strike, rather that a legitimate need for employment, which I find unethical. Furthermore, a quick Google search reveals that American Licorice corp. denies their workers basic benefits like health insurance, and the strike conditions prevailing imply that until American Licorice company negotiates with their employees and improves working conditions it is not a suitable place for employment.And immediately received this automated reply (with attached forms):


Thank you for applying for a position with American Licorice Company. Please fill out the attached application and email it back to [email protected] or fax the application to 541-617-0412. Please note that completing the EEO form is completely voluntary. If a disability makes it difficult to complete the application, please contact us to discuss what might be a reasonable accommodation.

If your education, skills, and experience match the job requirements for the position we are recruiting for, a member of our Human Resources team will be in contact with you soon.

Thank you again for your interest in employment with American Licorice Company.


Also flagged the ad as "prohibited."

[ckaihatsu]

SF Labor Council - Condemn Use of U.S. Military to Escort Scab Grain Ship in Longview WA - Resolution adopted Jan. 9, 2012


(please excuse duplicate postings, please distribute widely)

San Francisco Labor Council Resolution - Adopted Jan. 9, 2012 by unanimous vote (with one abstention)

Condemn Use of U.S. Military to Escort Scab Grain Ship in Longview WA

Whereas, EGT, a joint venture led by multinational grain giant Bunge, agreed to hire union Longshoremen when accepting millions in taxpayer funds to build a huge new grain exporting terminal at the Port of Longview WA, but once the terminal was built has tried to void its contract and refused to hire ILWU labor. With the use of brutal police and courts and 220 arrests in the 225 member ILWU Local 21, EGT has managed to get enough scab grain across picket lines into the new terminal that EGT appears poised to load a ship soon in violation of their agreement with the port; and

Whereas, a solidarity caravan of thousands of union members and community activists -- endorsed by ILWU Locals 10 and 21, the S.F. and Cowlitz County (Longview) labor councils and many others -- is being organized to support our brothers and sisters in Longview, for an emergency mass protest when requested to do so, to confront union-busting by Wall Street on the Waterfront; and

Whereas, according to Longshore & Shipping News, within a month, the empty grain ship will be escorted by armed U.S. Coast Guard vessels and helicopters, from the mouth of the Columbia River to the EGT facility. The Coast Guard is an integral part of the US Armed Forces, operating under the Department of Homeland Security (except when engaged in combat operations abroad, as it did in Iraq, when it operates under the Navy); and

Whereas, this is the first known use of the US military to intervene in a labor dispute on the side of management in 40 years -- not since the Great 1970 Postal Strike when President Nixon called out the Army and National Guard in an (unsuccessful) attempt to break the strike. The use of the Armed Forces against labor unions is something you expect to see in a police state. This is part of a disturbing trend where the US military, acting as enforcers for the 1%, is poised to be used against our own people, as exemplified by the new law allowing the military to imprison US citizens indefinitely without trial; and

Whereas, now the US military, which has been oppressing, bombing and threatening other nations [a military that's paid for with the workers' taxes] is now being used against us, against American working people and our unions. To quote ILWU international President McEllrath: "ILWU's labor dispute with EGT is symbolic of what is wrong in the United States today. Corporations, no matter how harmful the conduct to society, enjoy full state and federal protection while workers and the middle class get treated as criminals for trying to protect their jobs and communities."

Therefore be it Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council condemn in the strongest terms the announced use of US Armed Forces (Coast Guard) to provide an armed sea and air escort for the empty grain ship, which is due to call at the new EGT grain terminal, Port of Longview, Washington, to load scab grain for export to Asia. We condemn this use of the military as part of a union-busting campaign to lower the cost of labor on the waterfront and destroy the union;

And be it further Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council join with allies in other cities on the West Coast to participate in any press conferences and demonstrations that are organized to denounce this use of the military to intervene in a labor dispute on the side of Wall Street on the Waterfront;

And be it finally Resolved, that the Council circulate this resolution to affiliated unions, Bay Area labor councils, the California Labor Federation, as well as labor bodies in Oregon and Washington, for concurrence and action, and urge labor leaders including Richard Trumka and Mary Kay Henry to take a strong stand against this brazen assault on our labor rights and civil liberties.

(resolution submitted by Dave Welsh, NALC 214; Alan Benjamin, OPEIU 3, Maria Guillen, SEIU 1021; Frank Martin del Campo, SF LCLAA; Marcus Holder, ILWU Local 10 and Robert Irminger, ILWU-IBU)

[thriller]

"Please note: STRIKE CONDITIONS PREVAIL" - Hahaha. American Licorice corp. is looking for scabs to break a picket line. If you have experience being a filthy scab and breaking picket lines, this is the job for you. Please note: We do not provide health insurance.

Why not use Revleft for something useful? Let's do a little write in campaign, replying to the craigslist ad. I'll send a little message inquiring why I would want to work for a company that refuses to negotiate with its workers and hires scabs to break a picket line.

I'm taking your advice, except I'm waiting for the app so I fax it to them so they actually read it :D