> (en) US, New Workplace Organizing Website
>
> >From adam welch <adam_freedom at yahoo.com>
> Date Sun, 8 Oct 2000 06:05:56 -0400
> ________________________________________________
> A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
> http://www.ainfos.ca/
> ________________________________________________
>
> http://bari.iww.org/homesites/organize.html
>
> New Workplace Organizing Web Page
>
> OAKLAND, CA- Workers looking to know about their
> rights on the job or the basics of what is a union
> sometimes don't know where to go. Hoping to reach out
> to unorganized workers, the Industrial Workers of the
> World union has recently created a new educational web
> page on workplace organizing (found linked to the main
> IWW web page at www.iww.org). The
> page, which promotes the IWW's brand of rank and file
> organizing with their emphasis on direct action, was
> created by members of Local 23 Telecommunication and
> Computer Workers IU 560 of the IWW collaborating with
> other member organizers throughout September 2000.
>
> The page has information and resources for workers
> who may be considering organizing, answering questions
> such as "What is a Union?" and "Know Your Rights," and
> for workers who may already be on their way to forming
> a union such as "Basics of Organizing." More
> literature and information is already being added to
> expand the already extensive page. The Literature and
> History pages will be revamped next according to Local
> 23's system administrators
>
> The IWW's web page has received praise previously,
> winning a 2000 Labor Site of the Year Award. The page
> was one of the first unions in the world to go online
> according to it's web site. The effort is part of the
> growing union's goal to, "make the IWW a cohesive
> fighting organization," said General Secretary Alexis
> Buss in a September 2000 Newhouse News Service
> article. According to Buss the IWW was once known as
> "the Fighting Union."
>
> Highlights of the New Organizing Page
>
> - An Organizing FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
> - Questions and Answers about your workplace rights
> - Basic steps to begin organizing your workplace
> - How to run a Union meeting
> - How to start your own IWW Local
> - Information on Union Contracts
> - Information on the importance of diversity in
> workplace organizing
> - Information and writings on Direct Action
>
> Other Highlights of the Home Page (www.iww.org)
>
> - Extensive articles and links about the IWW's long
> and rich history
> - Information on the IWW's work supporting the
> Missouri Prison Laborers Union found linked at the
> Defense Committee page
> - Read or write your thoughts on the IWW Guestbook
> - And the many, many interesting labor and activist
> links page
>
>
> More about the IWW
>
> The IWW is a union for all workers, a union
> dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries
> and in our communities both to win better conditions
> today and to build a world without bosses, a world in
> which production and distribution are organized by
> workers themselves to meet the needs of the entire
> population, not merely a handful of exploiters.
>
> The Industrial Workers of the World name comes from
> the fact that they organize industrially- meaning to
> organize all workers on the job into one union, rather
> than dividing workers by trade, so that we can pool
> our strength to fight the bosses together.
>
> Since the IWW was founded in 1905, they have
> recognized the need to build a truly international
> union movement in order to confront the global power
> of the bosses and in order to stand in solidarity with
> our fellow workers no matter what part of the globe
> they happen to live on. Also recognizing the need for
> unions to stand against the exploitive practices of
> the Prison Industrial Complex, which lowers all
> workers with substandard wages and a lack of basic
> rights, the IWW supports efforts to change the
> conditions for prison laborers.
>
> The IWW is a union open to all workers, whether or
> not the IWW happens to have representation rights in
> your workplace. They organize the worker, not the
> job, recognizing that unionism is not about government
> certification of employer recognition, but about
> workers coming together to address our common
> concerns. Sometimes this means striking or signing a
> contract. Sometimes it means refusing to work with
> unsafe equipment or following the bosses' orders so
> literally that nothing gets done. Sometimes it means
> agitating around particular issues or grievances in a
> specific workplace, or across an industry.
>
> Because the IWW is a democratic, member-run union,
> the decisions about what issues to address and what
> tactics are pursued are made by the workers directly
> involved. If you would like more information or to
> join, please see our web site at www.iww.org or
> contact the IWW General Headquarters at:
>
> IWW
> PO Box 13476
> Philadelphia, PA 19101,
> call (215) 763-1274 or email ghq at iww.org
>
> or contact your local General Membership or Industrial
> Union Branch