You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
Monday June 22, 1903
From The Outlook: "Forced Labor in West Virginia"
This is Part III of our discussion of the article by Gino C. Speranza which appeared in the June 13th issue of
The Outlook.
Mr. Speranaz believes that publicity is the great hope for reform. He says that little help can be expected from local officials, and he found that even the Governor of the state claimed to have little power over these abuses. The Governor wrote to Mr. Speranza on the issue of forced labor:
I am willing to do anything I can to bring about a better condition of affairs and to co-operate as I have the power in bringing to justice those guilty of the acts complained of, but you see my limitations...The executive in West Virginia has practically no power in controlling the administration of justice in our courts...The Legislature refused last winter to give me the necessary powers asked for in as grave a matter as lynching.
Mr. Speranza goes on to advise employers to treat their Italian laborers with courtesy and kindness:
Employers of Italian labor too often forget that their employees are proverbially sensitive, but are also susceptible to kind treatment.
Mr. Speranza wonders if the problem is really the contractors fault. Perhaps the contractor doesn't actually realize what the middle-man is doing(!)
We were with Mr. Speranza right up to this point. The idea that we can appeal to the humanitarian side of these contractors who hire brutal company gun men to menace their employees is simply laughable. As is the idea that Italian laborers dislike brutal treatment only because they are "proverbially sensitive."
What these men need is to be Organized. We hope they will soon meet up with Mother Jones, and join the United Mine Workers of America. And that they will learn to (in the words of Mother Jones):
FIGHT LIKE HELL!
SOURCE
The Outlook
-of June 13, 1903
(
pdf!)
http://www.unz.org/...
Sunday June 22, 1913
Paterson, New Jersey - 300 Ribbon Weavers Plan to Return to Work on Monday
Three hundred ribbon weavers plan to return to work on Monday at the Miesch Mill. The strike leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World say that the question of continuing the strike may soon be submitted to a referendum.
Meanwhile, Judge Kleinert continues handing out harsh sentences to strikers for performing their picket line duties. Thirty-one strikers were recently sentenced to three months at hard labor in the County Jail. The sentences were suspended conditioned on "good behavior."
SOURCE
The New York Times
-of June 21, 1913
http://select.nytimes.com/...
Saturday June 22, 2013
Email from Gregory Reynoso of Fast Food Forward:
Domino’s is running scared. I spoke out about poverty wages and trying to form a union and Domino's fired me -- but I'm not going to be quiet.
Until recently, I worked at a Domino's store at 183 Graham Ave. in Bushwick, Brooklyn as a delivery driver. Like many fast food workers across New York City, I was struggling to raise my family on $7.25 per hour and tips in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
This spring, I went on strike with my co-workers and thousands of fast food workers from across the country demanding $15 an hour and the right to form a union free of retaliation. Workers from Seattle to New York went on strike, but following the strike Domino's stepped out of line. Instead of respecting my legal right to organize for a better life for my family, a month after the strike, Domino's fired me...
Domino’s is scared, scared of what we have been accomplishing and thinks that firing me will stop us, but we are going to keep on fighting for $15 and the right to form a union free of retaliation. But I need you to stand with us to send Domino’s a message that retaliating against workers isn’t just wrong, it’s against the law, and we’re not going to stand for it...
As a husband and a father, taking care of my family is my number one priority. But I know if I don't keep fighting for better wages and respect on the job, I'll never be able to give my family the life they deserve. That's why I'm still standing strong with fast food workers across the country.
Will you stand with me and demand Domino's gives me back my job. Click here and tell Domino's we are in this together.
In Struggle,
Gregory Reynoso
Fast Food Forward
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"You'll either be a union man or a thug for J. H. Blair."
Which Side Are You On by Florence Reese sung by Dropkick Murphys