IBEW

Local 46 has got to win this: Time to fight with both fists!

Class Struggle Workers flier , , , , ,
Class Struggle Workers, Portland Stands in Solidarity With Striking Electricians! Local 46 has got to win this: Time to fight with both fists! Class Struggle Workers – Portland is a militant tendency of union members in Portland that works in favor of a class-struggle perspective within the labor movement. We have participated in many labor actions and mobilizations, including on the picket lines of many labor struggles. We stand in solidarity with the Low-Voltage electricians, and would like to share some thoughts on how this struggle can be won. Low-Voltage members overwhelmingly rejected NECA’s latest “offer.” Now what? They’ve come back with another, even lower one. Evidently the bosses don’t think the union is serious. They think they can wear the union down until there’s no energy left for a fight. Should they get away with that? “One day longer, one day stronger” is, frankly, a rhyme without reason. Construction workers have the power to force the bosses to catch up with inflation and cough up four paid holidays. But it’s time for labor to use its power – or lose it. And right now Local 46 is fighting with one hand in its pocket. The inside wiremen’s contract is expired. They work for some of the same contractors who are all part of the same NECA cabal. The inside wiremen live with the same inflation. They deserve the same paid holidays that the lower-paid 06’s are fighting for. We think it’s clear that all the affected workers should strike together now! A key point we keep seeing the urgency of: Picket lines mean don’t cross, period! No exceptions, no excuses, no lawyerly waffling about “individual choice.” Solidarity in practice, not just words, is essential for the interests of all workers. Without it we all lose. There have been rallies where leaders of all the unions have spoken many words about solidarity. Now is the time to use it! What about the politicians who claim to be friends of labor? The union-busting, warmongering, strikebreaking parties of the bosses don’t operate in the interests of workers – labor must break with the Democrats and Republicans and form an independent workers party. And in order to fight together, labor needs to free itself of the handcuffs imposed by the bosses’ courts. The Ironworkers’ contract is expired. They just voted down an insulting pay-cut “offer.” The painters’ contract is expired. They have rejected the bosses’ lowball insults. The crane operators in Operating Engineers 302 are working without a contract and they too voted down the latest “offer.” “In unity there is strength” – putting that into action can help win, and workers from Seattle to places across the country would be inspired if all Seattle construction was shut down by a joint strike of all trades. This is a critical moment in the labor movement, with inflation squeezing the workers dry and the bosses riding high, and the time for action is now. https://csw-pdx.org/ cswp@csw-pdx.org 503-303-8278 Labor donated, 14 June 2024

Class Struggle Workers, Portland Stands in Solidarity With Striking Electricians!

Class Struggle Workers – Portland is a militant tendency of union members in Portland that works in favor of a class-struggle perspective within the labor movement. We have participated in many labor actions and mobilizations, including on the picket lines of many labor struggles. We stand in solidarity with the Low-Voltage electricians, and would like to share some thoughts on how this struggle can be won.

Low-Voltage members overwhelmingly rejected NECA’s latest “offer.” Now what? They’ve come back with another, even lower one. Evidently the bosses don’t think the union is serious. They think they can wear the union down until there’s no energy left for a fight. Should they get away with that?

“One day longer, one day stronger” is, frankly, a rhyme without reason. Construction workers have the power to force the bosses to catch up with inflation and cough up four paid holidays. But it’s time for labor to use its power – or lose it. And right now Local 46 is fighting with one hand in its pocket.

The inside wiremen’s contract is expired. They work for some of the same contractors who are all part of the same NECA cabal. The inside wiremen live with the same inflation. They deserve the same paid holidays that the lower-paid 06’s are fighting for. We think it’s clear that all the affected workers should strike together now!

A key point we keep seeing the urgency of: Picket lines mean don’t cross, period! No exceptions, no excuses, no lawyerly waffling about “individual choice.” Solidarity in practice, not just words, is essential for the interests of all workers. Without it we all lose.

There have been rallies where leaders of all the unions have spoken many words about solidarity. Now is the time to use it! What about the politicians who claim to be friends of labor? The union-busting, warmongering, strikebreaking parties of the bosses don’t operate in the interests of workers – labor must break with the Democrats and Republicans and form an independent workers party. And in order to fight together, labor needs to free itself of the handcuffs imposed by the bosses’ courts. The Ironworkers’ contract is expired. They just voted down an insulting pay-cut “offer.” The painters’ contract is expired. They have rejected the bosses’ lowball insults. The crane operators in Operating Engineers 302 are working without a contract and they too voted down the latest “offer.” “In unity there is strength” – putting that into action can help win, and workers from Seattle to places across the country would be inspired if all Seattle construction was shut down by a joint strike of all trades. This is a critical moment in the labor movement, with inflation squeezing the workers dry and the bosses riding high, and the time for action is now.

https://csw-pdx.org/ cswp@csw-pdx.org 503-303-8278

Labor donated, 14 June 2024

IBEW Local 48 calls for workers action to stop the U.S./Israel war on Gaza

Class Struggle Workers resolution , , , , , ,

Originally published at https://www.ibew48.com/get-involved/current-events/gaza-resolution

WHEREAS, solidarity with workers everywhere is a crucial part of labor unionism, and the workers’ struggle has no borders; and WHEREAS, every day now we are seeing the horrifying bombing and massive killing of the working people of Gaza, and their children, with arms supplied by the same U.S. government that carries out strikebreaking against workers here, with over 25,000 already killed and the death toll slated to grow higher day by day; and WHEREAS, working-class opposition to this U.S./Israel war goes hand in hand with the labor motto, “An injury to one is an injury to all” as well as the call, “Arab, Jewish, black and white, workers of the world unite.” THEREFORE, be it resolved that IBEW Local 48 supports the Palestinian trade unions’ call for labor everywhere to stop the shipment of arms for this U.S./Israel war; that we salute dock transport workers in Barcelona, Belgium, Italy and elsewhere who have stated their refusal to handle arms shipments for this war; and that we support and encourage efforts for such workers’ actions here in the U.S. to stop the arms shipments; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, opposing what is in effect yet another U.S. war, this time against the people of Gaza, we call for the immediate end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza; Israel out of Gaza and the West Bank; end all arming and funding for it now. Resolution approved by the membership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local Union 48 at their regular membership meeting on February 28, 2024.
IBEW Local 48 Resolution Against the War on Gaza

WHEREAS, solidarity with workers everywhere is a crucial part of labor unionism, and the workers’ struggle has no borders; and

WHEREAS, every day now we are seeing the horrifying bombing and massive killing of the working people of Gaza, and their children, with arms supplied by the same U.S. government that carries out strikebreaking against workers here, with over 25,000 already killed and the death toll slated to grow higher day by day; and

WHEREAS, working-class opposition to this U.S./Israel war goes hand in hand with the labor motto, “An injury to one is an injury to all” as well as the call, “Arab, Jewish, black and white, workers of the world unite.”

THEREFORE, be it resolved that IBEW Local 48 supports the Palestinian trade unions’ call for labor everywhere to stop the shipment of arms for this U.S./Israel war; that we salute dock transport workers in Barcelona, Belgium, Italy and elsewhere who have stated their refusal to handle arms shipments for this war; and that we support and encourage efforts for such workers’ actions here in the U.S. to stop the arms shipments; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, opposing what is in effect yet another U.S. war, this time against the people of Gaza, we call for the immediate end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza; Israel out of Gaza and the West Bank; end all arming and funding for it now.

Resolution approved by the membership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local Union 48 at their regular membership meeting on February 28, 2024.