Organizing the WIIU: The Solidarity Group, on the way to the Labor Recruiting Union

[Bill]

Organizing the WIIU:  The Solidarity Group, on the way to the Labor Recruiting Union

 

I am proposing an initiative for getting the WIIU out into the field and bringing together fellow workers into Solidarity Groups 

and Local Recruiting Unions.

From these groups, social relationships, discussion, education and further organizing efforts can develop. 

This is a good practical step to start an organizing drive that gets us off-line and into industrial organizing.

 

Solidarity Groups (consisting of 2 to 9 members) are immediately possible, with basic effort, and consistent, persistent efforts

 at running meetings and doing outreach.

 

The Local Recruiting Union (10 members or more in various industries) will then be the next organizational step towards

 organizing for socialist industrial unionism.

 

We should develop basic guidelines, literature (most of which is available, although new materials would be useful), and share

 best practices and experiences.

 

According to the Constitution of the WIIU, organizing the WIIU can begin with the establishing of Local Recruiting Unions where

 there are members from a variety of industries.

As established in the By laws for Local Unions, the number of ten members is required for a recognized Local Union 

(this is too high, and I propose that it be changed to five members).

 

Excerpt, Constitution of the WIIU:

Article I

(b) Local Recruiting Unions shall be composed of wage-workers in whose respective industries in a given locality there does not exist during their membership a Local Industrial Union.

 

Excerpt, By-Laws For Local Unions

Article I

Section 1. Local Unions shall be composed of not less than ten members and shall not surrender their charter if seven members in good standing object thereto.

Section 2. They shall meet at least once a month, seven members to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

[Matthew Andrews]

Requiring a quorum of seven members is very difficult unless you have a
well established group. Seven people at a meeting usually means you
have 20 active people to draw from, and more like 40 that at least pay
dues. In my experience with the SP and IWW, 5 is a more reasonable
expectation, and such a group is still enough to have discussions and
votes.

I like the idea of having an educational curriculum. It can be hard to
start something completely new unless you already have a motivated core
group. Here in Boston I am thinking about trying to work with the
Center For Marxist Education. Some radicals have taken over the Boston
CP and are already running a weekly educational program from that space
(Central Square, Cambridge).

We need to get momentum behind a program that will draw in people first.
Then we can begin to have one-on-one conversations to see if there is
potential for further organizing.


~Matt

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Workers' International Industrial Union" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to workers-international-industrial-union
> +unsub...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Bill]

Agreed. We should modify the WIIU Constitution from ten to five members to establish a Recruiting Labor Union.

This raises the question: should we ave a national Convention/meeting of the WIIU at some point?

[Scott Wallace]

Yeah, this constitution is way more structure than we need right now. I think it was mostly taken from the original WIIU with just a few embellishments. The people who put it together are gone now. When it was adopted it was through an online convention.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to workers-international-ind...@googlegroups.com.

[William Shakalis]

Thanks Scott.

Changing the RLU membership  requirement from 10 to 5 is a first step.

But why wait?  

I encourage members to do local membership outreach now --

get 2, 3 or more together to start meeting regulary -- forming a local Solidarity Group. Be public -- anounce place, date and time. Have a simple agenda:

introductions; what is the WIIU? (literature); a discussion topic; further organizing and outreach ideas. 

Be persistent, long term, and do social media publicity about your group.

Time to organize, fellow workers!  -- not merely discuss on line.

  

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Workers' International Industrial Union" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/workers-international-industrial-union/OCV7JW9BxtM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to workers-international-ind...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

William Shakalis, MSLS

wsha...@gmail.com

cell: 860 208-7273

 

[Scott Wallace]

Sounds great! I'll be back in the US soon, and I'll do my best to get something going in my new location. I think we should also try really hard to get candidates for public office. That could be a great way to publicize industrial unionism.

I had another idea that I'd like to run by you guys. In my opinion, Eugene Debs 1905 speech, Industrial unionism, is one hell of a piece of propaganda. If we could produce a video of a reenactment of that speech, it might be a very powerful tool. There is an actor named James Cromwell who could probably do a fairly convincing Debs. He has been involved in "progressive" causes, so there is a chance he might be interested. We could do a crowd funding campaign to raise the necessary funds, and that in itself would publicize industrial unionism and the WIIU. Is this something the WIIU should attempt?

[William Shakalis]

Sounds possible.

That Debs speech on industrial unionism I had read and reread -- it is good.

[Bill]

Here is the Debs speech on Industrial Unionism:

http://www.iww.org/PDF/history/library/Debs/Debs5.pdf

[Scott Wallace]

OK, I wrote a letter that I am proposing we send to James Cromwell. In it I mention the Bernie Sanders campaign and I suggest a WIIU approach to Sanders.  Of course, this is just something off the top of my head, and of course this is a complicated topic and I imagine there is a large probability that others may not agree with this point of view, so let's see if anyone has an opinion about this.

Dear Mr. Cromwell,

 

We of the Workers’ International Industrial Union would like to suggest a project that we hopeyou will find intriguing. We find a great deal of inspiration in the life and work of the American labor organizer and socialist, Eugene V Debs. Debs played an important role in developing revolutionary industrial unionism, and one of the most important contributions in that endeavor was his Dec. 10, 1905 speech in New York City which has been published under the title, Industrial Unionism. We are interested in producing a video reenactment of this 1905 speech, and we are writing to urge you to take part in this project. We believe that you, by virtue of your physical appearance, vocal characteristics, artistic abilities, and devotion to progressive causes, could portray Debs in a convincing manner. 

 

Just a few words about the WIIU, it’s program, tactics, and aspirations are exactly what was laid out by Debs in his 1905 speech. The WIIU split with it’s sister organization, the Industrial Workers of the World over the question of political action. The IWW rejects political action, and we maintain that it is a vital tool in the struggle for human liberation. The WIIU,

like the IWW spread quickly throughout the world. It organized workers both industrially and politically in spirited campaigns across the United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. By 1924, however, it was at an ebb, and the decision was made to disband. Today, a small group of people has taken on the daunting task of trying to bring the WIIU back into existence. We think that the vision that Debs laid out is exactly what is needed to end the obscene and growing inequality that characterizes modern capitalism.  In addition to the vision that Debs laid out in his speech, the WIIU is committed to organizing revolutionary cooperatives as an additional method by which working people can begin to establish industrial democracy, and serve as a model and material base for the advancement of a movement that will eventually effect a general revolutionary change by peaceful and constitutional means. The struggle for industrial democracy is also a struggle against racism, and sexism in all its forms. It is a struggle against imperialism. It is a struggle against the military industrial complex, and the militaristic disease that has infected American society. It is a struggle to save the planet from the corporate drive for profits and unsustainable industrial expansion.

 

We are gratified to see Bernie Sanders courageously speaking out about the obscene and growing income inequality that has delivered a staggering body blow to the American working class. At the same time, we point out that it is not enough to merely tax the rich, break up the banks, provide a single payer health care system, and provide a free college education to whoever wants one.  Capitalism has entered a 

 

 

 

 

 

very advanced and pernicious stage of decay. The ability of the system to provide reforms that once kept the people pacified seems to be nearly exhausted. We want to recruit people across the country to run for House and Senate seats as independent 

socialists on a platform of building industrial unions and revolutionary cooperatives as a revolutionary complement to Sanders reform candidacy. So with these words of explanation, we ask you to take a critical read of the Industrial Union speech and consider portraying Eugene Debs.in our production. 

http://www.iww.org/PDF/history/library/Debs/Debs5.pdf

Sincerely,

[Matthew Andrews]

I made just two edits below. I put a space between "hopeyou" and
deleted "of people" in the sentence "Today, a small group of people has
taken on..."

I would suggest tightening up the explanation of the WIIU to just a
sentence or two. That can be part of further conversation, but I don't
think it contributes to the pitch. Instead I suggest we develop an idea
of how we could assist with the production and distribution of this
endeavor. The big selling point needs to be that we can use his work to
make a crucial difference today.

The comments about Bernie Sanders seem out of place. I would only
mention him to make the point that clearly millions of people are eager
to hear a message about socialism from public figures that they aren't
getting anywhere else. The spirit that gave rise to the Occupy movement
lives on. Perhaps we should have a conversation about how we relate to
the Bernie Sanders campaign. Since I recently lived in Vermont, I was
thinking about writing an article about Sanders for the Industrial
Worker. It might be a good test to see what they will print.

Today I am in Worcester for the Eastern Conference for Workplace
Democracy. east.usworker.coop

People are wearing t-shirts that say "Think Outside the Boss." There
was a very moving commemoration for Ricky Maclin last night. He was the
Vice-President of UE Local 1110 who helped lead the successful
occupation of Republic Windows and Doors back in 2008. He recently died
of pancreatic cancer.

http://www.ueunion.org/ue-news/2015/ue-mourns-passing-of-ricky-maclin-leader-of-republic-windows-occupation

The workshops this weekend will be a mix of practical advice for
starting and building worker coops, and also how to make links with
movements for social justice.


In Solidarity,
~Matt Andrews

Dear Mr. Cromwell,

We of the Workers’ International Industrial Union would like to suggest

a project that we hope you will find intriguing. We find a great deal of

inspiration in the life and work of the American labor organizer and
socialist, Eugene V Debs. Debs played an important role in developing
revolutionary industrial unionism, and one of the most important
contributions in that endeavor was his Dec. 10, 1905 speech in New York
City which has been published under the title, Industrial Unionism. We
are interested in producing a video reenactment of this 1905 speech, and
we are writing to urge you to take part in this project. We believe that
you, by virtue of your physical appearance, vocal characteristics,
artistic abilities, and devotion to progressive causes, could portray
Debs in a convincing manner.

Just a few words about the WIIU, it’s program, tactics, and aspirations
are exactly what was laid out by Debs in his 1905 speech. The WIIU split
with it’s sister organization, the Industrial Workers of the World over
the question of political action. The IWW rejects political action, and
we maintain that it is a vital tool in the struggle for human
liberation. The WIIU,
like the IWW spread quickly throughout the world. It organized workers
both industrially and politically in spirited campaigns across the
United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia, and New
Zealand. By 1924, however, it was at an ebb, and the decision was made

to disband. Today, a small group has taken on the daunting task of

[William Shakalis]

I agree with Matt that the Sanders campaign lies outside this discussion about organizing 

local WIIU Solidarity Groups.

.

It is extremely problematic in that it leads workers into a capitalist political party: the Democratic Party.

But if Sanders raises issue, perhaps new members will be found that come out of that

movement.

 

[wiiuuks...@gmail.com]

Did the WIIU agree to reorganise?

[William Shakalis]

"Reorganise" -- how do you mean?

I am not suggesting that.

I suggest that we go out and organize workers,

not be in discussions only.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Workers' International Industrial Union" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/workers-international-industrial-union/OCV7JW9BxtM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to workers-international-ind...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Bill]

I am taking the "Why you should join the WIIU" leaflet,

putting my local contact information on it, and distributing it 

at cafes, community centers, libraries, colleges, etc.

Then I need to be prepared in meeting people, talking up the WIIU,

and building membership, and regular meetings.

I am starting outreach for the WIIU that way, and via social media.

Fellow Workers -- please consider doing the same to build the WIIU!

We need to organize.

[Scott Wallace]

Bill,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart as a working class person who recognizes that you're doing exactly what every other working class person needs to do, And I promise to do the same. Right now I'm in Brazil, but I left China 2 weeks ago. Next week I'm going to start a motorcycle trip from Florida to Idaho, and I'm willing to make it an organizing trip for the WIIU  if you all will help organize it. We have to brainstorm, and this has to be quick.

Fraternally,

Scott

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Workers' International Industrial Union" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to workers-international-ind...@googlegroups.com.

[William Shakalis]

OK.... start.

We need:

literature

organizing steps (or a Manual)

strategy

tactics

etc.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Workers' International Industrial Union" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/workers-international-industrial-union/OCV7JW9BxtM/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to workers-international-ind...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

William Shakalis, MSLS

 

[Scott Wallace]

Literature, we do have some, but I'm not sure I feel that comfortable with it. If people want to brainstorm with new lit, that's great, I'm still thinking about Debs 12/10/ 1905 speech as a manifesto. As far as strategy, I'm thinking hitch a ride with Bernie Sanders. He says start a political revolution and challenge the billionaire class. Sounds like a good starting point, and a natural way to approach a discussion of industrial unionism. I'm willing to arrive in some of these small towns and get up on a soap box. Any speech writers out there? Ya'll can help me drum up an audience by means of the internet/facebook. As far as a handbook, Bill, it sounds like you have some ideas. We are very few people, and whoever feels inspired needs to stand up and contribute..