S15: International Day of Solidarity with Australian Domino’s Pizza Delivery Drivers

September 13, 2012October 8, 2012 Southern Maine IWW Events anarcho-syndicalist federation, direct action, dominos pizza, food and retail workers united, general transport workers association, industrial workers of the world, international workers association, labor union, southern maine iww, workers solidarity alliance

Domino's Workers' Solidarity

Please contact the Southern Maine IWW if you would like to participate in solidarity actions this Saturday, September 15th (all day — by phone, e-mail, or in person) for the Aussie Domino’s drivers, who just got hit with a 19% pay cut. Below is more info on the struggle from GTWA.org.au:

“The ASF is calling on all sections of the International Workers Association (IWA), their friends and supporters to take protest action around the world on September 15 in support of the campaign for wage justice for delivery drivers who have had their wages cut 19% arbitrarily by Domino’s Pizza Enterprises management.”

Some suggestions for taking action:

“Raise awareness of the GTWA with not only your local Domino’s pizza drivers, but with others in the general transport industry and encourage them to join our effort. It could be any one of us next.

Tell everyone you know that the SDA called for an adjournment of the termination of a 2001 agreement, with no fixed date for an agreement to be made required of Domino’s. This effectively sold out the drivers. Terminating the 2001 agreement would have hopefully had the drivers on a wage at least equivalent to the national safety net minimum wage * (see Key Point 1)

On the 15th of September, attend or organise a protest outside a Domino’s store. Let the franchisees and Domino’s know that the business practices of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises are not something that will be forgotten, and there are workers fighting back.

On the 15th of September, visit Domino’s on Facebook or contact form and let them know you are not happy with how they operate their business and why.

Let the drivers know we are there to protest the company and not them if attending a protest. You are standing alongside them because when these practices are not confronted, anyone in any industry could be next.

Please don’t ‘out’ drivers on social media or at demonstrations without their permission, only in collective action can we be protected in casual labour.

This is not a boycott as that takes work away from the drivers.

Get in touch with us if you plan on running an event, we would love to know!

KEY POINTS FOR NEGOTIATION & DISCUSSION

The basic rate of pay must always be at least equivalent to the national safety net minimum wage prescribed by FWA which will include casual loading to casual employees. For an adult driver of 21 years & over this would currently be basic rate of $15.96 per hour + casual loading of 23 % = $3.67 giving a minimum wage of $19.63 per hour.

That notwithstanding anything else in any agreement, under no circumstances whatsoever will the minimum wage payable by Domino’s ever fall below the national prescribed minimum wage by FWA and that all employees engaged on a casual basis shall have the casual loading prescribed by FWA in the minimum wage safety net included in the minimum wage payable to any casual employee.

Payment of wages at the normal rate of pay (which will include casual loading to casual employees) shall be paid to all employees required to complete any training or attend any meeting whether that training or meeting is held in-store, via the Domino’s training website DOTTI or by any other means. Payment of wages will be made for the period of time taken by the employee to complete the training specified by Domino’s.

All tips received by drivers shall remain the sole property of the driver to whom they are given. At no time and under no circumstance will Domino’s ever be entitled to any tip money received by any driver.

All hours worked by any employee regardless of what employment status the employee may hold will be paid for by the employer Domino’s at the appropriate rate of pay. This will include all hours worked before, during and after any trading hours of any store.

That Domino’s agrees to make good faith progress with workers towards including all casual staff to public holiday rates equivalent in ratio to those entitlements currently received by full-time, and part-time employees to the extent that by 2014, all casual workers including drivers be paid at the rate of double-time for all hours of work performed on public holidays.”

UPDATE 8 OCTOBER 2012:

Check this link for a great story from an IWW picket of a Domino’s in Berkeley, California from S15:

http://www.frwu.net/2012/thedominosfall/

Bread and Roses Heritage Festival on Labor Day, 9/3

August 19, 2012September 13, 2012 Southern Maine IWW Events 1912, bread and roses, festival, industrial workers of the world, iww, labor union, lawrence massachusetts, southern maine iww, strike, textile mill

The Southern Maine IWW will be hosting a table at the Bread and Roses Heritage Festival this Labor Day, Monday, September 3rd, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. We’ll be bringing merchandise for sale and information for free, and we’ll also be signing up new members to the union.

The Bread and Roses Heritage Committee curiously does not mention the IWW in their account of the famous Bread and Roses Strike of 1912, as we played a central role in organizing the strikers, but here’s their description of the festival:

“The Bread and Roses Heritage Festival is a celebration of the ethnic diversity and labor history of Lawrence, Ma. This annual festival is celebrated on Labor Day in order to honor the most significant event in Lawrence history: the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike.

We memorialize the event with a variety of music and dance, poetry and drama, ethnic food, historical demonstrations, and walking and trolley tours, all on or starting from Lawrence’s Common. We also host organizations continuing the struggle for social justice today.

Bread and Roses is the only broadly multicultural festival in Lawrence, the Immigrant City. And it is the only festival in the region, which celebrates the true spirit of Labor Day, in the most appropriate location, the site of the Bread and Roses Strike.

The festival is a one-day ‘open air’ celebration.

The date for this year’s celebration is September 3, 2012 and historically runs from 12 to 7pm.

Thank you to everyone who attended, organized, volunteered, performed, donated, and supported the 2011 Bread & Roses Festival!

To see the 2012 full line up please visit our Schedule page.”

UPDATE: Bread and Roses 2012 was a great time! Here’s a pic of some Boston, Southern Maine, and NH Wobs with the mayor of Lawrence:

Free Movie Night with Occupy Maine and the IWW on Friday, August 17

August 2, 2012August 6, 2012 Southern Maine IWW Events appropriation, Argentina, Avi Lewis, Carlos Menem, CBC, counterSpin, documentary, free movie night, industrial democracy, industrial workers of the world, iww, labor union, meg perry center, Movement of Recovered Factories, Naomi Klein, occupy maine, The Take, workers' cooperative, workers' rights

The Southern Maine Industrial Workers of the World and Occupy Maine will be partnering again on Friday, August 17, to put on a free public screening of “The Take.” The movie will be shown at the Meg Perry Center at 644 Congress Street in Portland, beginning shortly after 7 PM, and there will be an optional discussion afterwards. Below are the film’s trailer and a brief description of it, and a PDF file of the promotional flyer is here.

“In the wake of Argentina’s dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America’s most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They’re part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system.

But Freddy, the president of the new worker’s co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.

The story of the workers’ struggle is set against the dramatic backdrop of a crucial presidential election in Argentina, in which the architect of the economic collapse, Carlos Menem, is the front-runner. His cronies, the former owners, are circling: if he wins, they’ll take back the companies that the movement has worked so hard to revive.

Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.”

Festival of Nations Table a Success

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012 Southern Maine IWW Events Abolition of the Wage System, festival of nations, industrial workers of the world, iww, maine, portland, table

Although it was rainy, the Southern Maine IWW put out a table at the Festival of Nations today to talk with and educate workers about organizing for the abolition of the wage system. Those of us who staffed the booth had a very good time meeting those who approached us, and we thank the organizers and other participants for putting on and contributing to the event.

Southern Maine IWW to Appear at Portland’s Festival of Nations, 7/29/12

July 22, 2012 Southern Maine IWW Events community event, deering oaks park, festival of nations, industrial workers of the world, labor union, maine, portland, southern maine iww

The Southern Maine IWW has reserved a booth at the tenth annual Festival of Nations in Portland’s Deering Oaks Park this coming Sunday, July 29th. We’ll be running a table there from 11 AM to 7 PM to meet and talk with workers about industrial unionism and workplace organizing. This event is open to the public, and admission is free.