Workers Solidarity Alliance Chicago

11/01/2023

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! 🇵🇸

01/11/2022

76 years ago today we lost Carlo to an assassin's bullet. We highly recommend learning more about this amazing and dedicated comrade.

01/08/2022

We all hate cops here!

01/06/2022

A core principle of anarchism is protecting and rehabilitating the environment around us. We must also not view technology as the enemy or praise it as a god. This zine below demonstrates on how some anarcho-syndicalists view and approach the topic.

Graham Purchase Anarcho-Syndicalism, Technology and Ecology 1995 This article originally appeared in issue #35 (Summer, 1995) of Kick It Over P.O. Box 5811...

11/20/2021

"My Will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing To divide
My kin don't need to fuss and moan—
`Moss does not cling to a rolling stone`
My body?—Oh!—If I could choose
I would want to ashes it reduce,
And let The merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again

This is my Last and Final Will.—
Good Luck to All of you,"

- Joe Hill, on the eve of his death, November 18th, 106 years ago.

Today we continue to mourn a great loss in the early labor movement, but let us not have that drag us down. Let us instead use his death as even more reason to fight against the state, against capital, against the oppression of all peoples, and total liberation for all!

11/15/2021

Interesting in learning more about anarcho-syndicalism?

Then make sure to read the Solidarity Federation's "Fighting Four Ourselves!"
It is a great introductory and modern text to anarcho-syndicalism, and addresses many criticisms of it and past movements.

Text: https://libcom.org/library/fighting-ourselves-anarcho-syndicalism-class-struggle-solidarity-federation

Audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoNy8D9Tnyw&list=PLTeHv2rWFci6dCuHKtCfnOO0CjZ3eNGwm

Full text http://libcom.org/library/fighting-ourselves-anarcho-syndicalism-class-struggle-solidarity-federationShort book outlining the history, theory and p...

10/28/2021

From our WSA statement, Where We Stand. This entry is on 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"The class struggle is not limited to the workplace but also spreads out into the broader community, in areas like housing, gentrification, transportation, pollution, welfare rights, police brutality. To challenge the dominating classes in society, the working class needs a movement that can address these struggles and the issues of the day. We support the development of mass self-managed organizations in the community such as tenant organizations or transit rider unions.

Developing links between labor organizations and grassroots organizations rooted in working class communities and communities of color is a way to strengthen struggles in both areas, and prefigures the sort of working class alliance that is needed to fundamentally challenge the dominating classes for control of the society.

Workers centers are a type of community-based worker organization that has provided a grassroots alternative for workers in recent years. As with other labor organizations, we support worker control of worker centers and oppose top-down control by a paid hierarchy.

Working class communities can also develop various types of member-controlled, democratic economic institutions such as worker cooperatives, housing cooperatives, and community land trusts. Worker cooperatives can be used to provide jobs, provide services the movement needs, and illustrate the possibility of a society based on self-management. At the same time, the potential of worker cooperatives is limited by competitive pressures in an economy dominated by the big capitalist companies. Forming worker cooperatives is a useful tactic, but we don’t see this as a strategy that can liberate the working class from the class system."

10/26/2021

About three dozen McDonald’s workers and activists protested alleged sexual harassment outside the fast-food company’s headquarters in West Town.

10/19/2021

𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗔𝗸𝗰𝗶𝗮 (𝗜𝗪𝗔 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗮) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲:

"We are happy to announce that, as part of the International Week Against Unpaid Wages, we prepared an English version of our pamphlet related to our workplace conflicts between years 2015 and 2019. The publication called "How We Coped with Problems at Work. Conflicts of Priama Akcia Union in 2015-2019" provides a detailed description of conflicts in all their stages. It contains photos from actions, interviews with the workers, leaflets and a short analysis of hospitality sector where most of the conflicts took place.

Since these were the first successful anarcho-syndicalist activities in Slovakia ever, we are delighted that we can now share them with you in English language. We hope that they will be a source of inspiration for small or starting union organisations outside Slovakia. The publication can be downloaded for free in DOC, PDF, MOBI and EPUB formats.

Thank you for spreading the word about it and feel free to contact us in case of any questions!"

Pamphlet about conflicts of Priama Akcia union in English language17/10/2021We are happy to announce that, as part of the International Week Against Unpaid Wages, we prepared an English version of our pamphlet related to our workplace conflicts between years 2015 and 2019. The publication called "H...

10/15/2021

From our Where We Stand statement's entry on 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦:

"In the history of capitalism, racism has always been linked with the class system. Modern racism was developed to justify the enslavement of black people and the seizure of the lands of the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. People of non-European origin were labeled “inferior” to justify worse treatment.

Our subordination to employers generates a constant struggle over control of our work and the division of the economic pie we produce. Discrimination creates resentments and divisions. By setting groups against each other, racism weakens our class power. All working people lose from this, including the white working class.

Racism isn’t just ideology or overt prejudice but also exists as a pattern of relative advantage or disadvantage. Racist patterns in society push people of color to the bottom. Thus struggles often have both a class and a race dimension, such as struggles against police brutality or against gentrification and evictions or struggles against anti-immigrant attacks.

We oppose racism in all its forms.

Groups that are subject to a particular form of oppression, on the basis of race or gender or nationality, will have concerns that arise from that. This is why we support autonomous social movements of specific communities. Through a process of dialogue, the specific concerns of oppressed communities can be brought into a common working class movement. The aim should be for the spirit and aspirations of groups subject to specific forms of oppression to be a part of the overall working class movement, and expressed in the life and aims of unions and other mass organizations. Incorporating the aspirations of oppressed communities benefits the working class as a whole. Greater unity makes for a stronger movement, and a stronger working class can make gains that benefit everyone."

10/14/2021

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗵𝘆?

We live in a society where we have to work for money to survive. We need money for food, housing, education, health, but also for culture, recreation or leisure activities, etc. We often have a hard time to cover all our expenses, so when it happens that we are not paid our wage, it has drastic consequences for us and for the people who rely on us.

Unpaid wages is a phenomenon so widespread and so harshly affecting our lives that the International Workers’ Association (IWA) has decided to establish the third week of October each year as the International Week Against Unpaid Wages. During the week, unions affiliated to the IWA raise awareness about the topic, organise protest actions in front of companies that do not pay wages and, in general, speak about how the problem can be tackled in practice.

Examples of such activities can be found, for example, in an article evaluating last year’s International Week Against Unpaid Wages here: https://iwa-ait.org/content/international-week-against-unpaid-wages-supp.... We will inform about more during the third week of October.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

We help each other, we inform, we mobilize, we protest. Through collective action, we are try to hit the bosses where their profits and power are made. We act as a group, as a union, and show them that the problems they cause are not related to individuals, but to a wider community that has come together and fights together.

We organise direct actions, i.e. collective protest actions - these can be “pickets” outside workplaces, blockades, informing about harmful company practices, exposing the practices to business partners, boycott of products or services, international solidarity campaigns, or even visiting the responsible people in the place of their residence, and so on.

Bosses know that they can easily get away with non-payment of wages (including probationary pay, overtime bonuses, compensation for wages and salaries, etc.). Especially in workplaces with questionable (or no) contracts and informal verbal agreements. In general, however, if workers manage to come together, if they do not get intimidated and if they rely not on the courts but on their own abilities and actively engage in the struggle, they stand a good chance of getting their wages back. And if they act through unions, the chances of not only getting the wages they are owed, but also of improving the situation in the workplace increase.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

- If your boss owes you wages and you want to act, contact us.

- Share your experience of how you managed to get your owed wages.

- Distribute promotional materials on the topic (stickers or posters) in your area.

- Share posts about the topic on social media.

- In general, get involved in struggles against workers exploitation in your area.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵

While we consider the direct action tactics to be a very effective tool to achieve payment of owed wages, we recognise that even if we won all the wages owed, we will not stop this phenomenon. The nature of the capitalist system will always play into the hands of the bosses and allow them to try tricks on us. That is why we do not call for “fair” wages or treatment. The problem is the wage system itself, which uses our labour to enrich itself and at the expense of society. Nor do we think that direct actions are an end in themselves. It is very important that they involve collective organising, decision-making, sharing experiences and overall building of culture of mutual aid.

After all, the aim of the unions associated in the IWA is not just to achieve short-term material victories. We are aware that the day-to-day struggle against unpaid wages is only a reaction to the immediate problem. But while it is a defensive struggle, it is also part of our broader, long-term struggle for fundamental changes in society.

We want a world in which people’s needs are paramount. Without capitalism and its production for profit, which has brought us to the brink of ecological catastrophe. Without hierarchies in all spheres of social life that artificially divide us and are a breeding ground for inequality and oppression. And without the state as the saviour of capitalism and the holder of power over society. We don’t need any of these to live a happy life and to develop society.

That's why we organise and band together with workers around the world. If our approach is close to your heart, contact us.

To learn more about the IWA, visit www.iwa-ait.org

10/11/2021

Update on the union busting of Kimball Musk, Elon's brother.

Big Green laid off half its workers just in time for the busy school season—and just a month after hosting a gala where it sold two bongs for $50,000 each.