Greetings and Welcome to “On The Line”. Over the years this host has been involved with several anarcho-syndicalist newsletters by the same name. I hope to be able to carry on the tradition of publishing timely news from the workplaces, the communities and the struggles against oppression, no matter what form that oppression takes.
A look at printed issues of “On The Line” can be found on the excellent resource site Libcom: https://libcom.org/library/line-libertarian-workers-group
The reader is encouraged to send in news about your struggles, comments and links to articles of interest. We encourade “debate” and “discussion” submissions as well. All we ask is the submissions and discussions be comradely, yet principled. Civil yet engaging.
Class struggle is the order of the day. The fight is real and the goal is freedom.
Thank you for reading.
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Labor News: “‘Cover cuts’: Indian garment workers cover bosses’ lockdown losses” —“From unpaid overtime to wage cuts, Indian garment workers say they are being made to compensate their bosses for the food, shelter and salary provided in the coronavirus lockdown.
But it is a steep price for a workforce that was already juggling low pay and poor conditions before the pandemic shuttered their factories and strangulated orders.
Workers say they are being offered the choice of less money or working extra shifts for free to pay back their bosses, who dangle the threat of unemployment if employees refuse.”
Labor News: “NC farmworkers forced to buy low-quality meal plans from employers” — “Of all the exploitive working and living conditions that North Carolina farmworkers face, a bad meal plan might not sound so important. But with backbreaking, exhausting and dangerous work, and poor and uncomfortable living conditions, decent meals are critically important for migrant farmworkers to make it through the day. But farmworkers often don’t get food that’s anywhere near adequate.” .https://www.facingsouth.org/2020/10/voices-nc-farmworkers-forced-buy-low-quality-meal-plans-employers?fbclid=IwAR07wLD6thKqhLMxiURL26096sOG6oZ2j6wIPA3PC8EE8iQyhuUzL02eQpg
Labor News: “Food service workers on Capitol Hill march on Mitch McConnell’s house demanding back pay and recall rights.”
“On October 7, 2020, Washington, DC, members of UNITE HERE Local 23 rallied in front of the Madison Building of the Library of Congress and marched to Mitch McConnell’s house demanding money that workers are owed by a federal contractor, I.L. Creations, that operates cafeterias at various federal agencies in D.C., including the Library of Congress, the USDA, Department of State.”
Labor News: Quebec, September 23,2020 “Cement workers locked out three hours after strike starts” — On September 23, 20202 union members belonging to the Syndicate des travailleurs de Demix Baton (St-Hubert) “unanimously rejected the employer’s final offer and went on a 24-hour strike.
“A few hours after the strike began, on 24 September, the employer locked out the workers. That same evening, an unlimited general strike vote was unanimously passed.The union wants to renew the collective agreement, and the main area of contention is over pay parity with other Demix workers in the region.Currently, union members at Demix Concrete earn about 3 CAD(US$2.2) less an hour than fellow operators and drivers elsewhere in the region, even though they perform the same job for the same employer.”
http://www.industriall-union.org/cement-workers-locked-out-three-hours-after-strike-starts
Struggle Against Police Brutality: “Taylor grand juror speaks out, says prosecutors steered them away from homicide charges”
On the same day a judge granted a grand juror in the Breonna Taylor police-shooting case the right to speak about the deliberations, the juror, who is still anonymous, confirmed what Taylor’s family and supporters suspected: that homicide charges against the officers involved in the raid on Taylor’s apartment were never presented to them by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/10/20/taylor-grand-juror-speaks-out-says-prosecutors-steered-them-away-from-homicide-charges/24657389/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook&fbclid=IwAR2OnTB46s8Jb8GyTzwXpH_CHBeY_rnOk9JAnmB1FCm_bORfGCvyrY6uW1k
Link to other news: “Bangladesh: Long March Against Sexualized Violence Attacked” — “Lately thousands of people have been taking to the streets against sexualized violence in Bangladesh. The movement was triggered by numerous gang rapes that had taken place throughout the country in recent weeks. The protests are not only directed against these blatant incidents, but they aim at changing society as a whole putting sexism in its many forms on the table.”
Bangladesh: Long March Against Sexualized Violence Attacked
Anarcho-syndicalist news ….”12th – 18th October. International Week against Unpaid Wages”
“In December 2019, the International Workers’ Association (IWA) at its Congress held in Melbourne, Australia, decided to promote an International Week against Unpaid Wages. The Sections of the IWA agreed to carry out different activities during the 3rd week of October to call attention to the widespread phenomenon of unpaid waged and to show which tools we can use to fight it. Because we, as workers, do jobs to be paid for them, not to voluntarily make employers richer and richer.” ……… https://iwa-ait.org/content/12th-18th-october-international-week-against-unpaid-wages
Working Class & Revolutionary history:
BEN FLETCHER Book Fundraising Appeal: “Help publish Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly, Second Editionby Peter Cole with a Foreword by Robin D.G. Kelley. This is the story of one of the greatest heroes of the American working class, a brilliant union organizer and a humorous orator of the Industrial Workers of the World. “This stirring collection gives us the drama, largely in his own exciting words, of the life and work of black radical labor leader Ben Fletcher”.
From the Press:
Nigeria: “Nigerian Women VS. SARS: A Coalition Against Police Brutality” —- “
“Let it be known that the Feminist Coven did that.”
Whenever revolutions are documented, women are erased. History is timelessly unkind to women and women’s contributions to politics and activism. When honor is due to be awarded, Black women’s accomplishments are at best, credited to the patriarchs, and at worst, labeled subversive. Experience has taught us, however, to give people their flowers while they can still smell them. Therefore, there is a need for us as Black women to tell our stories and document our history before they get the chance to be erased. In Sub-Saharan Africa currently, Nigerians have taken to the streets en masse protesting against police brutality by a notorious unit called SARS. Actively spearheading this movement is Nigerian women.”
Voice from the frontline: Brazil’s antifa firefighters
