[2641] in peace2
Victory for Somerville Projectionists!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tree Monkey)
Tue Jul 29 15:44:40 2003
Message-ID: <20030729194314.9413.qmail@web11203.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:43:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tree Monkey <bangarangatan@yahoo.com>
To: peace-announce@mit.edu
MIME-Version: 1.0
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YOU ONLY GET WHAT YOU ARE ORGANIZED TO TAKE:
'Pissed Off Projectionists' Declare Victory Over
Somerville Theatre
After having been locked-out for over ten weeks,
projectionists at the
Somerville Theatre have emerged victorious in their
struggle for union
recognition. The management has agreed to voluntarily
recognize the
union, sign a fair contract, and pay full back wages
to all locked-out
employees. Although this was a modest struggle in and
of itself, we see it
as a significant victory for young, exploited and
pissed off workers
everywhere.
PROJECTIONISTS WIN A LIVING WAGE!
At the time we struck for union recognition,
projectionists were paid
minimum wage ($6.75/hr), were not offered benefits,
and worked in an
unhealthy and undemocratic environment. Under the
current two-year
contract, the starting wage for projectionists is now
in accordance with (and
fixed to) the Somerville Living Wage Ordinance
(currently $9.55/hr),
which is a 40% increase; all full-time employees will
be offered health
benefits and vacation; and most importantly, the
Somerville Theatre is
now a 'union shop' for projectionists, which allows
for more control
over the work environment by the workers themselves
and preference for
hiring new employees in the hands of the union.
Although this was a clear victory, it was a victory
that came at a
price. It became clear during the lock-out that the
management of the
Somerville Theatre did not want some of us to return
to work specifically
because of our political beliefs. Rather than further
stall the contract
negotiations, we agreed to voluntarily step aside and
be replaced by
other union projectionists in order to ensure a speedy
resolution that
would benefit all. In exchange we will have the
opportunity to work in
other Boston-area theaters where projectionists are
organized through
IATSE.
DIRECT ACTION GETS THE GOODS!
We hope that our struggle is an inspiration to other
workers,
particularly younger workers just beginning to
understand their exploitation at
the hands of their bosses. Our struggle was won
primarily through
direct action and community pressure. Although we did
indeed file for an
election with the National Labor Relations Board, from
the beginning of
our campaign we had no faith in State-mediation. We
felt that the whole
NLRB process played into the hands of the bosses and
government
bureaucrats, and effectively removed the class
struggle from off the streets
and out of the hands of the workers and confined it to
the court rooms of
the State.
In the end it was not through the NLRB that we gained
union
recognition, but through a sustained campaign of
public pressure and direct
action. We were successful in utilizing tactics and
strategies such as
economic strikes, informational pickets, and publicity
campaigns while
simultaneously relying on the pressure from the
community (in the form of
boycotts, rallies, and phone actions) to win this
struggle. We think we
were successful in proving that, as workers, our
greatest strengths are
in the refusal of our labor and our ability to
organize effective
resistance that goes beyond the workplace and into the
community.
ANARCHISTS IN THE WORKPLACE?
Absolutely! Through out the dispute at the Somerville
Theatre, there
have been attempts by Mel’s lawyer to 'red bait'
certain projectionists
by publicizing the fact that some of us are
anarchists. Well, as one
trade unionist who walked our picket line a few times
eloquently stated:
"Every workplace could use a few anarchists to ensure
the boss takes a
good ass-kicking every now and then." We couldn't
agree more. Politics
aside, the fact of the matter was that we were being
exploited by a
wealthy boss, and no amount of 'red baiting' changed
this fact in most
people's eyes. As for the actual politics in question,
those of us who do
identify as anarchists have been up front about it and
have no problem
defending out beliefs. We would like to see a society
in which the needs
of people are valued over profits, and exploitative
bosses are a thing
of the past. However, we are not hopeless dreamers. We
recognize we are
a far way off from this sort of society, and in the
meantime we !
need build power in our communities and workplaces and
work towards
class victories that directly benefit people's lives.
THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS
One of the most inspiring aspects of this struggle has
been the wide
support we have received from trade unionists,
activist groups and
members of the surrounding community. Thanks to fellow
unionists from SEIU,
UE, CWA,
IBEW, IWW, AFA, AFSCME, Teamsters, Greater Boston
Central Labor
Council, and our own union IATSE; also activist groups
such as NEFAC, BAAM!,
Jobs With Justice, Somerville Greens, and the Student
Labor Action
Project; and lastly, a very special thanks goes out to
all the Somerville
residents who supported us, everyone who made a phone
call (or ten) on
our behalf, and anyone else who may have helped our
campaign that we
forgot to mention.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES...
The struggle at the Somerville Theatre may have come
to a close, but
there are other labor disputes heating up around the
city. At this
moment, the union contracts covering thousands of
Boston-area workers at
Verizon are set to expire. Up to this point
negotiations have been
unsuccessful and the possibility for an East Coast
strike is very likely. We
hope that everyone who has supported us though out our
struggle will also
support this important strike if it does occur, and
defend workers'
right to job security and health benefits. Further
information on the
impending Verizon strike can be found at:
www.massjwj.net.
Solidarity is our greatest weapon for a better future!
In Struggle,
Pissed Off Projectionists
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