Earliest Days of This Trump Attack

  • February 26, 2025 1:47 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

By Philly Metro and Greater Chicago WSA

Among many reports and conversations at our November 40th Anniversary Congress, two that stand out are a  renewed excitement about working-class journalism, and how our WSA Branches are trying to orient our work to our worksites and co-workers.

What this has meant in these early days of the Trump-Musk Attacks?

We can’t speak for all WSA members, but many of us have felt depressed and in shock, aware that our families are directly vulnerable.

In contrast to 2016, where the resistance to Trump was immediately galvanizing, there has been a cultural sea-change. We certainly feel part of this ‘just-getting-on-our-feet-now’ period.

Speaking for only some in our branches, these early months have felt like a tornado watch. We keep looking out our window to see how close the danger is. There has been a noticeable pause on our public national level projects as this Trump-Musk attack is unfolding, but  as we write this, we are getting back to our work!

As regards our worksites, one of the immediate responses has been to the scapegoating ICE raids some of our most at-risk families have been living in terror at the haphazard nature of these assaults.

We’ve been actively working on connecting our coworkers with community organizations, putting out flyers with contact info for immigrant rights hotlines, helping with outreach for multilingual trainings.

Locally, we’ve also been helping to organize an upcoming protest in coalition with local activists. While we are not reformists, we bring our workforce concerns and syndicalist analysis as best we can, trying to build momentum for any public opportunity to say “NO!” to this time of crisis.

As anarcha-syndicalists we are clear as daylight that we use the word ‘democracy’ to mean not bourgeois democracy where the competing elites vie for our votes to get power. We will resist Trump and Musk, but this does not mean we were signed up to support what would have been a Biden-Harris regime of business as usual and genocide.  We are clear that by standing up for democracy we mean a worker’s democracy, and the classless, non-hierarchical society which alone can make the word ‘democracy’ meaningful.  But right now we are focusing on our commonality with at-risk co-workers and others, with Trump voters who suddenly realize their jobs & benefits are now in jeopardy.

While we are few and our branches are small, it feels the best way for us to cope is to stay engaged. While we’ve been slow to get back to journalism, it’s time to do just that. Members are saying it’s time for us to have our WSA National Labor Committee soon, and we will!

As a way back to working-class journalism, today during work hours we did what we meant to do, which was to talk with WSA members and comrades, and try to get their thoughts into print.

As a start today, at 10 am, while on the clock, we talked on the phone with our comrade Greg Mcgee:

“What we should do is have a dialogue with our fellow workers, but make sure we use facts. Use radical websites talking about Russian deserters and Ukrainian deserters refusing to fight. Imagine together if they called the soldiers and no one showed up! The wars would stop.”

“With all this rampant fascist nationalism happening now, the bigotry, anti-semitism, racism, right now, imagine replacing the word “immigrant” with “Jew”, and discuss the fascist past. We know that Mussolini and General Franco were fascists, we really don’t know what Trump and Musk are. LThey may just be narcissists, but I think we need to draw our fellow workers’ attention to the historical past of fascism, how this is looking worse and worse. Again, the scapegoat is immigrants right now; remember what happened in Nazi Germany: Right now it is much much less far-fetched thinking it could happen here. We have to remember what happened to Japanese people in the U.S. in WWII, where people were rounded up and put in concentration camps.”

“This is the time for meetings with our fellow workers at our places of employment; this is the time to work on our common ground, the threat that’s facing us now.”

From Lana –  by phone during work hours, an hour later:

“It’s so multi-faceted, this outright chainsaw to any social safety nets, and we absolutely know as the economy goes south, we in the working class are first in line for the economic consequences.  Isn’t this what we’ve been saying all along? That capitalism is evil because it uses us as fodder in so-called good times, and uses us as frontline fodder in any disaster?

“I think this is the time for us as syndicalists to get on our feet and organize, to get our fellow workers involved as a group from our workplace in community resistance – it’s a wake-up call. Five-alarm fire, let’s get to it !”

###

This Thursday, 8pm est, come hear WSA Congress Guest Speaker, Suzy Subways!

  • November 21, 2024 1:03 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

Philly’s long time organizer and radical journalist will address the WSA’s 40th Anniversary Congress, with reflections on group democracy, journalism and anarcha-feminism! Helping us look to our future!

to attend, write to us at

philly-metro-wsa@proton.me

 

From Week Against Unpaid Wages Local Report, Oct 16-22

  • October 29, 2024 1:09 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

At three different worksites, WSA members wrote short invitations to take part in solidarity actions for the fight against wage theft; each invitation  included an accessible intro to the history of the IWA-AIT. The Invitations were tailor-made to the co workers at each workplace.

One of the invitations read in part:

“Many of us here have been in the US workforce for years, even decades. We’ve had the experience of having a boss not pay us what we were due, or trying to withhold benefits. We’ve heard from our families’ bad experiences, or we’ve had friends or co-workers who’ve had to go through this. Now is an opportunity for each of us in our own work situation to educate ourselves about how to act in solidarity when these situations come up!

“The world’s oldest anarcho-syndicalist international, the IWA-AIT, invites us to be part of an international week of action against unpaid wages, Oct 16- 22.  Several of us here are excited to be part of this, and we plan to do a workshop on how we can teach ourselves about this issue, how we can act in solidarity, and how we can be ready to advocate for our friends and family when things happen!”

Aramark Concession Workers Strike at Philly Sports Complex

  • October 2, 2024 1:49 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — The unionized workforce that handles concessions at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex started to strike on Monday, September 23. Hundreds of Aramark stadium workers that bargain with the UNITE HERE Philly Local 274 union are demanding new contracts.

Unicorn Riot was told that Aramark, which is headquartered in Center City Philadelphia with a market capitalization value of $9.8 billion, has tried to prevent the unionized workers from qualifying for healthcare plans by dividing their hours between the three stadiums – Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center. (In a statement to NBC10 Aramark claimed it has now offered to count all stadium hours towards health coverage in a new contract.)

“Our contracts have all expired in all three buildings so we’re trying to consolidate the work. So, three different buildings doing the same job, you get different pay rates now. We want it to be the same pay rate. So if you’re a cook, a cook, a cook [at those locations] you get the same pay. It’s not like that. We want the hours to count from all three buildings to qualify people for health care. Right now they keep the hours separate.”

Kathy Hazel, Aramark concessions worker at Wells Fargo Center for 24+ years

“We might have worked all three buildings in a week, we still get one check from Aramark. But we get three different wages, that’s the issue here. […] They don’t want to agree to benefits like PTO. I understand it’s a ‘part time’ in one building, but when you’re in all three buildings you’re working like full time, you’re getting full time hours… but they’re still trying to treat us as if we are part time.”

Tarell ‘Doe’ Martin, Aramark concessions worker

On Sept. 24, outside a Phillies baseball game, union members called on fans to avoid purchasing food, drink and clothing inside the stadium, to pressure the company to negotiate a better deal. Aramark touts that “total income inclusive of wages and tips for this group of employees have risen 61% over the past five years,” while we heard from the workers that this is disingenuous because the tips have come from the public, not their employer. For an hourly cost of living increase, Aramark offered fifty cents a year, then another ten cents on top of that a year,

Many of the Aramark workers are not tipped at all, so they want to improve their base pay and benefits. “I noticed that they did not thank the Philadelphia fans for helping pay the salaries of their workers,” said picketing union member Kathy Hazel. “They don’t get any credit for any money I get from tips. […] There’s a lot of workers that are not tipped workers. And we’re here to support them, so that the hourly workers get an increase. They’re not getting tips, and we stick together.”

Down the street, independent vendors offered pretzels with notes on their carts saying that Aramark was on strike. Anthony Oliver with the striking Aramark workers pointed out that once again the ‘Counter Terrorism’ unit of the Philadelphia Police has turned up at Aramark labor protests. Forty-five Aramark workers were arrested in June by a force that included the same type of police we saw outside the recent presidential debate with ‘Counter Terrorism’ markings. Outside a Biden fundraiser last December, one officer on that team told Unicorn Riot that they are always deployed to protests but declined to name the specific policy which enables this.

UNITE HERE Philly Local 274 represents about 4000 private sector hotel and food service workers throughout the Philadelphia region, according to their website.

Aramark Notorious in Prison Food World

Prison labor is “remarkably common within the food system,” according to the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center, and Aramark is at the heart of this game: it is notorious for its role in the food side of the prison-industrial complex. Its subsidiary Aramark Correctional Services provides services to hundreds of U.S. prisons and jails, privatized Immigration and Customs Enforcement jails operated by CoreCivic, along with contracts in at least 35 states, according to an investigation by American Friends Service Committee. It has long been notorious for substandard, contaminated and undercooked food.

Aramark investors benefit from prison labor used to prepare and package food in some prisons under the In2Work program. Students at Barnard College, New York University and Ireland’s Trinity College successfully got Aramark campus contracts cancelled. Georgetown University has been another site of pressure against Aramark both because of its prison labor and over on-campus workers’ contract in March.

In its corrections FAQ, Aramark says it’s in this business because “all people deserve healthy, nutritious meals.” A September 2023 Prison Journalism Project report by Justin Slavinski, “Meet the Company Getting Rich Off My Prison’s Awful Food,” described how the “100-or-so” residents in a Florida penitentiary who cook and clean are “wholly unpaid,” slashing Aramark’s labor costs to a small fraction of what legal employees would cost. Jail inmates have pushed for wages, and a prison strike protested Aramark.

Stadiums a Hot Issue in Philly

This isn’t the only major political issue with the stadiums and sports construction in the city. The 76ers professional basketball team is seeking to move away from the Sports Complex and into Center City in 2031, by demolishing part of the Fashion District mall and building a $1.55 billion new sports arena site called “76Place” which is said to include 395 residential units.

This plan is opposed by many people involved with the Chinatown neighborhood a block away. “Save Chinatown” supporters argue that the 76Place project will displace and damage their neighborhood. Nonetheless, on September 18 first-term mayor Cherelle Parker announced her administration reached an agreement to move the Center City arena forward. On Sept. 25, the mayor announced more details in a community meeting, while further protests are expected.

Earlier this month, we heard from local activists trying to “ban artificial turf installation on city property including parks and recreation centers,” specifically in a huge set of proposed soccer fields at the large FDR Park which is directly west of the Sports Complex. (The FDR Park construction project has attracted opposition and protests since 2022.)

Another corporate giant in the city, Comcast, has its own designs on the Sports Complex. In February, Comcast Spectacor unveiled a $2.5 billion multi-phase master plan. Some observers suspect that Comcast will once again fleece the public coffers and obtain a development subsidy, like the tens of millions it obtained for the construction of their Center City skyscraper, along with tax breaks.

Philadelphia will be hosting six games at an upcoming FIFA World Cup in the Lincoln Financial Center, which runs during June-July 2026. FIFA scandals may have affected Philadelphia’s earlier bid in 2015. The push for this bid started in 2016. The city got up to $10 million in aid for the FIFA event from the state legislature via House Bill 1300 which was signed by Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro on December. In 2021 the city pitched using FDR Park for practice fields; however, as we heard at the PFAS protest, FIFA does not host World Cup games on artificial turf, so all 2026 matches will need to be on natural grass.

Labor Day Greetings 2024!

  • September 3, 2024 1:03 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

Coworkers, comrades, and fellow labor activists—wishing you a restful Labor Day weekend!

In keeping with our radical political traditions, we put our activist energies into May Day, not Labor Day. This doesn’t mean that we haven’t been craving a rest from the bone-aching grind of our labor. In our WSA branch, we are furniture movers, home workers, pink collar assistants, and healthcare workers. We all need a rest from exhaustion. This three day weekend is needed to recover.

Labor Day was fought for and won by workers. But we also know that this is far from enough. It’s a drop in the bucket.

Labor Day, with its parades and picnics, took the shape of a more capitalism-friendly alternative to the more radical May Day that was characterized by street protests and strikes.

While we focus our eyes on May Day, you will still see us with friends at local Labor Day events, re-affirming the community aspects of our work lives. We need to recuperate in preparation for amplifying workplace voices and building relationships. As we know, building relationships is the heart of organizing. So, strike up the grill. But tomorrow, we build the General Strike ! 

From Philly Metro WSA 

“We are committed to building a future rooted in a classless and stateless society, where we, as working people, create workplace and community democracies that prioritize human needs over profits for the few. Our vision is a world free from the social oppressions of racism, sexism, and queerphobia. Through our revolutionary unions, we will transform the nature of work, paving the way to our collective liberation.”

From Greater Chicago WSA

Union Busting Pizza Shop Vandalized on May Day

  • June 23, 2024 1:04 am

from Instagram

A local union busting pizza shop was apparently decorated by an anonymous actor on May 1st, international workers day, this year. That same pizza shop is now re-opening after closing their doors, over a year ago, because workers presented them with a union contract vote. We at ruthless believe everyone deserves more direct democracy in the work place and the best way to begin that process is a union. F@$k small business tyrants and down with union busting. We don’t need these types of businesses in HBG. We miss Mercados any ways!!!!

Third Annual May Day A Success !

  • June 18, 2024 1:03 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

By Greater Chicago WSA

Reprinted from WSA Discussion Bulletin # 75

1

Wednesday, May first, at 8 30 pm EDT, workers from around  the country and Canada gathered for our third annual May Day online event.

The recent passing of our beloved Clarissa, who was pivotal in the first two years of our evening May Day, was frequently mentioned through the gathering.

The opening song, by Martin Traphagen, ‘Arrival,’  was inspired by Clarissa.

The third annual May Day Speech, this year delivered by Rebecca Croog, vividly described the impact that Clarissa had on her work:  “As I find my way into this work, I am visited multiple times a day by the memory and spirit of our Comrade Clarissa, who we recently lost to long covid. I can hear her encouraging us:

‘Don’t mourn, organize!’ I can feel her galvanizing us: ‘Let’s build coalitions! Let’s make this moment bigger and bigger!’ Gathered together as an anarcha-syndicalist community, let’s invite her in to remind us: ‘ALL BUILDS TO THE GENERAL STRIKE’

Rest in power, Clarissa! Free Palestine!”

As attendance increased, speakers reported on recent health care labor struggles, and one of the founding members of WSA, Steve Rabinowitz, read from the history of the Haymarket Martyrs, specifically the words of August Spies.

After the formal program, attendees shared news of May Day events and Gaza actions in their areas, from Philadelphia, Asheville, Greater Chicago WSA and other cities.

Comrade Greg McGee shared breaking news of attacks on the Ceasefire Gaza encampment at Columbia University.

Rebecca shared news of her work with Jewish Voice for Peace, recent union drives, and workers  standing up for Gaza.

At one point everyone joined in singing happy birthday to our comrade Alexandra, who is a May Day baby!!

2

As the meeting wound further down, comrades stayed for more informal discussion. Comrade Mitchell, (WSA zone 2 delegate in Oregon), asked what anarchist-syndicalists make of Rosa Luxembourg. This led to an energetic discussion on how anarchists can build relationships with anti-authoritarian Marxists, such as council communists and anti-state Marxists, outlining how Luxembourg’s work prefigured councilism, lamenting how Trotskyist groups have claimed her. Like later councilists, her criticism of anarchists seemed to be more that, at that moment, they were disorganized and had little capacity, different from criticism of organized libertarian communism itself.

By this point there were a few brave and sleepy comrades engaging in this conversion, and there were warm goodbyes. And for annual attendees not part of WSA, there were hopes to see everyone on May Day 2025!

 

 

Below is Martin’s opening song ‘Arrival’, in honor of Clarissa –

 

 

Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly

  • May 9, 2024 1:05 am

from Instagram

Another great event coming up at the shop! Did you know @muralarts is set to unveil a Ben Fletcher mural at 301 South Christopher Columbus on May 18th? Come out two days before to learn more about who this incredible Philadelphian was and why his impact on our city is still being felt today.A brilliant union organizer and a humorous orator, Benjamin Fletcher (1890–1949) was a tremendously important and well-loved African American member of the IWW during its heyday. Fletcher helped found and lead Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union, unquestionably the most powerful interracial union of its era, taking a principled stand against all forms of xenophobia and exclusion.Hope to see you on the 16th!

Third Annual May Day Online Event

  • May 1, 2024 1:20 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

Dear Comrades, you are warmly invited to attend!

This Wednesday, May 1st , at 8:30 EDT

Here is the link:

https://meet.jit.si/WSAMayDay2024

Opening Song by Martin Traphagen: “Arrival”

Annual One-Minute May Day Speech, by Rebecca Croog

Heath Care Workers’ Struggles

Haymarket Historical Quotes

Relaxed Reports Back from May Day Events and Issues

See you there!

 

Philly Workers March for Palestine Protests Against Israel, Militarized Robots

  • April 15, 2024 1:04 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — On Saturday, April 13, local groups protested Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed 33,000 Palestinians according to the latest figures. The march gathered in Clark Park.

Organizers say that workers and unions are sending the message today. The Philly Palestine Coalition says groups involved include the Labor for Black Lives Coalition, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Philly IWW, TNG Local 10/CWA Local 38010, SEIU Healthcare PA, Unity Caucus, Philly Tenants Union, & Workers World Party. According to the post, “Our goal is clear: to stand in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian workers and communities. Together, let’s demand more than just a ‘ceasefire now’ – let’s demand justice and equality for all.”

See this livestream on YouTube, Facebook or X (Twitter)

One key focus of Saturday’s march is the company Ghost Robotics which makes what organizers call “killer robots” for Israel’s military; the company’s Vision 60 “dog robot” was reportedly used for IDF experiments in the Gaza Strip.

On April 4 a rally at the University of Pennsylvania kicked off the “Shut Down Ghost Robotics“ campaign. Pics below from the April 4 event:

Since the April 4 event we have been checking more into Ghost Robotics and have some additional information to release later. We also have a report from a March 28 protest at Day & Zimmermann, a munitions manufacturer for the IDF headquartered in Philadelphia.

Support the Strike at Rutgers University

  • April 14, 2023 1:56 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

 

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Thousands of members of the AAUP-AFT, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and Rutgers AAUP-BHSNJ at Rutgers University are on strike after talks between the unions and management have fell through. The strike is the first ever in the history of Rutgers University.

The following information below is taken from Rutgers AAUP-AFT for ways to support the strike.

Join the Picket Line!

Camden

Picket shifts: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. and 1 p.m.–5 p.m.

  • Outside Campus Center

If you are physically unable to be present on our campus picket lines, fill out this form to sign up for important remote roles you can play.

 

Donate to the Strike Fund

Our unions have established a merged strike fund, named the Rutgers Strike & Solidarity Fund, with the goal of supporting members in the event of a strike. We hope those of you who can best afford to give will do so generously to support your colleagues. Click here to donate, and click here for an FAQ about the fund (see part 4!).

 

Temple University Grad Student Union Strikes; Rally on Campus

  • February 16, 2023 1:27 am

from Unicorn Riot

By Unicorn Riot February 15, 2023

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Temple University Graduate Students Association (TUGSA) has gone on strike, and undergraduates who support them have organized a walk-out from class and campus work on February 15. The graduate students are demanding base pay of $32,800, dependent healthcare, longer parental and bereavement leave and improved working conditions. The university administration has already revoked the striking grad students’ tuition remission and health insurance coverage in retaliation for striking.

An undergrads’ press release said in response to organizing, “university administration responded with an intimidating email directed to all students, even threatening students’ academic progress for participation.”

Live coverage here:

[Video Here]

The undergrads tell Unicorn Riot that while tuition was raised 3.9% this year, only 62 cents of every dollar are spent on instruction. A notice from the undergrad organizers reads:

“Forcing administration to give into TUGSA’s demands will take escalation involving students and workers across campus. In walking out from classes, undergraduate students show the way forward towards more and more workers in the Temple community taking escalating collective action.”

— Press release from undergrad students at Temple supporting striking graduate students

PA Prison Strike Letter for Fellow Incarcerated People

  • December 1, 2022 1:01 am

from Abolition Media

To my fellow imprisoned people:

Peace friend,

We at SPARC [Subaltern Peoples Abolitionist Revolutionary Collective] have been organizing in PA prisons for years.

 

We’ve been building our movement with focus on addressing the struggles going on right now. It’s clear from the failure to return to pre-COVID normal procuedure that the adminsitration intends to keep us under elevated restrictions indefinitely. Not only that, but there are many problems with the Pennsylvania injustice system that are not being remedied by politicians and lawyers. We intend to do our part.

Prisons are modern day slave plantations which only make profits for our exploiters if we do work. The more of us who refuse to labor for the slave master, the less the system can function. We have the power to shut it down and change conditions for the better.

On Friday January 6, 2023 we are going to use our power and go on strike. We are calling on you to get with your comrades and do this with us. Help us make it a statewide refusal to work.

We have been collecting feedback for our fellow captives and have compiled a list of demands. We have organized this labor strike to force the DOC and legislature to make changes. We are also standing up in solidarity with the prisoners that were on strike in all the prisons in Alabama. They are going to know that they are an inspiration and they are not in the struggle alone.

Neither are you.

Our list of demands:

  • end sexual harassment and rape by staff in women’s facilities.
  • end all harassment and racism in all facilities
  • raise wages for all workers – minimum wage for skilled workers and C.I. workers
  • end outsourcing mail to Florida [taking jobs from PA]
  • end outsourcing commissary to Secure Pak [taking jobs from PA]
  • end pricing gouging on tablets
  • allow video visits on tablets
  • pass the Geriatric Bill
  • end life sentences for 2nd Degree Murder
  • allow parole for lifers
  • adequate and edible food served at required temperature
  • end abuse in solitary confinement
  • allow RHU prisoners to order food [food cannot be used as punishment]
  • open visiting room to pre-pandemic levels
  • open all dining halls
  • provide more recreation/outdoor exercise time followed by showers
  • criteria for commutation instead of arbitrary decisions
  • parole eligibility for everyone after 15 years
  • flat sentencing
  • family picnic days on visits
  • conjugal visits
  • single cells for those that want those

SPARC

Fight Like Hell with Kim Kelly

  • April 22, 2022 1:37 am

from Making Worlds Books

Join Kim Kelly in the launch of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor

In FIGHT LIKE HELL, Kim Kelly tells a definitive history of the labor movement and the people who risked everything to win fair wages, better working conditions, disability protections, and an eight-hour workday. That history is a 1972 clothing company strike that saw 4,000 Chicana laborers start a boycott that swept the nation. It is Ida Mae Stull’s 1934 demand for the right to work in an Ohio coal mine alongside the men, and the enslaved Black women before her who weren’t given a choice. It’s Dorothy Lee Bolden’s 1960s rise from domestic workers’ union founder to White House anti-segregationist. It’s Mother Jones on the picket lines, and her militant battles against the ravages of capitalism. It’s the flight attendants’ that pushed to root out sexual assault in the skies. It’s the incarcerated workers organizing prison strikes for basic rights, and the sex workers building collective power outside the law. And it is Bayard Rustin, a queer civil rights pioneer who helped organize Dr. King’s March on Washington and help align the two movements.

Stops here include the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (immigrant, women laborers); Mississippi’s first successful unionization effort, the Washerwomen of Jackson, MS (post-war freedwomen); Latinx and Asian-American victories like the Delano Grape Strike; the influence of the United Auto Workers’ Arab Workers Caucus in the 1970s, up through queer and trans rights protections earned through labor action. FIGHT LIKE HELL concludes in Bessemer, AL where Kelly has been stationed to report on the ongoing efforts to unionize an Amazon warehouse for the very first time.

As America grapples with the unfinished business of emancipation, the New Deal, and Johnson’s Great Society, FIGHT LIKE HELL offers a transportive look at the forgotten heroes who’ve sacrificed to make good on the nation’s promises. Kim Kelly’s publishing debut is both an inspiring read and a vital contribution to American history.

Advance registration required so we can gather safely amidst the ongoing COVID pandemic.

[April 29, 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center 210 South 45th Street]

Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly Philadelphia virtual book launch

  • January 6, 2021 1:47 am

from Google Calendar

Join us for the Philadelphia virtual book launch of Peter Cole’s Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly on Wednesday, January 13th at 7pm EST hosted by Wooden Shoe Books and co-sponsored by the Independence Seaport Museum and Philadelphia IWW. Peter will be joined by labor journalist Kim Kelly and Royce Adams, a Philadelphia native and longshoreman in ILA Local 1291. Details and free registration link to be announced.

Ben Fletcher, an African American who helped lead the IWW’s most militant and effective interracial branch, epitomized the union’s brand of anti-capitalism and anti-racism. Fletcher (1890−1949) was a tremendously important and well-loved member of the IWW during its heyday, the first quarter of the 20th century. A brilliant union organizer and a humorous orator, Fletcher helped found and lead Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union. When founded in 1913, this union was a third African American, a third Irish and Irish American, and a third other European immigrants. Despite being hated by the bosses and redbaited by the government, Local 8 controlled the waterfront for almost a decade.

Peter Cole, a Professor of History at Western Illinois University and Research Associate in the Society, Work and Development Program at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive Era Philadelphia and the award-winning Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area. He also is the founder and co-director of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19). He tweets from @ProfPeterCole.