PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Pittsburgh ARA Endorses General Strike and March on May 1st
by Pittsburgh ARA Friday, Apr. 28, 2006 at 9:25 AM
pgh_ara@yahoo.com

Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants has organized a vigil (3pm) and march (5pm) for Immigrant's Rights on May Day. Anti-Racist Action has endorsed this march and the nation-wide General Strike to coincide with International Workers' Day (May 1st).

Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants has organized a vigil (3pm) and march (5pm) for Immigrant's Rights on May Day. Anti-Racist Action has endorsed this march and the nation-wide General Strike to coincide with International Workers' Day (May 1st).

---- ANYONE WHO REPS 412 IS ENCOURAGED TO REPOST THIS WIDELY ----

Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants has organized a vigil (3pm) and march (5pm) for Immigrant's Rights on May Day. Anti-Racist Action has endorsed this march and the nation-wide General Strike to coincide with International Workers' Day (May 1st).

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The ruling elite is up to its old tricks again.

Since the beginning of the genocide of the indigenous peoples on this continent, their
divide and conquer strategy has served them well, only because we the exploited and/or
working classes, have been all too willing participants in their game.
Whether the blame was placed on the Irish, emancipated African slaves, Chinese railroad
workers, Eastern Europeans, Italians, or most recently, Latinos, the real criminals have
long gone unpunished.
Capital has never acknowledged the imaginary lines, called "borders", and we the
exploited would be foolish to once again repeat our past mistakes and ignore our common
blood and our shared heritage of struggle.

We, the members of the Pittsburgh chapter of Anti-Racist Action support the May 1st
General Strike to coincide with International Workers Day, and implore all others to do
the same.

Join us Monday, May 1 at 3pm, at the Allegheny Courthouse and Jail, 950 2nd Ave (by the
10th St. Bridge to the South Side, Downtown) for a Counter Detention Vigil. And then
March for Immigrants' and Worker's Rights at 5pm

Bring noisemakers, earthmovers, drums, bicycles, flags, banners and whatever tools and
symbols deemed necessary to achieve our goals.

DETAIN AND DEPORT THE RICH!

pgh_ara@yahoo.com

--

Pittsburgh is preparing for May 1st International Workers Day in support of Immigrants' Rights. We successfully organized a rally on March 22nd and a march on April 10th at odd business hours. Now Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants is calling all immigrants supporters to join the Great American Boycott 2006.

California Taxi drivers are planning to shut down LAX on May 1 and truckers are planning to close the harbor and rally. May Day marches sponsored by Asian, Latin American, Caribbean, European, and African American community organizations are also scheduled to participate nationwide.

Students, unions, community activists, and inter-faith organizations are mobilizing their bases; and neighbors are gathering and talking in their communities about this historic human rights issue in America. Pittsburgh was "packed with undocumented immigrants in the 1800s and early 1900s of European descent, they built this city, they know what it means to be persecuted and mistreated..."

All over the nation, immigrants' advocates are calling in to support the boycott.

Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants for Immigrants' Rights endorses national DIRECT ACTION to work in solidarity with our symbolic protests and marches. We need endorsements in Pittsburgh to support this historic direct action and our planned future events. Send endorsements to: issuesfirst@gmail.com

IWW Supports May Day Strike -- What About Your Union?
by North Side Slim Friday, Apr. 28, 2006 at 5:58 PM
pittsburghiww@yahoo.com

The Pittsburgh General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is endorsing the May 1st protest and march organized by Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants. IWW locals across the country are supporting their members' efforts to make this a May Day to remember! We support our immigrant members, and realize that organizing together is the key that fits the door to industrial freedom.

Unfortunately, business unions like the Service Employees Internation Union who are, at the very least, in a position to encourage this action by workers in shops not under prohibitive contract, are encouraging immigrant workers to go to work on May 1st, and focus on lobbying their [sic] elected officials for change. How very dissapointing that they do not realize that a successful strike on May 1st will build workers' power more than hitting a button on a touchscreen ever will.

The struggle continues!

www.iww.org

Knights of Labor supports May Day actions!
by Terence Powderly, Grand Master Workman Saturday, Apr. 29, 2006 at 2:49 PM

The Pittsburgh Lodge of the Knights of Labor gives its whole-hearted Support to the Manful actions of our Immigrant Brothers in defending their Rights! We have even updated our Bylaws and sacred Oaths to allow the Chinese membership in our Lodges!

Some allege that we Knights long ago lost our Relevance. But this is not so! Interlopers like the Industrial Workers of the World and Labor Lieutenants of Capital like the Service Employees International Union are trespassing on the territory of the REAL American Working Man's Movement! (Just look at the SEIU! Providing marshals and security in the large immigrant demonstrations, and filing so-called "Unfair Labor Practice charges" on behalf of the immigrants fired for earlier actions -- as if so-called "concrete" activity is more important than Manful Self-Assertion in the verbal realm, where it really counts!)

We in the Knights call upon all upstanding Cordwainers, Bootblacks, Iron-Puddlers, Stage-Coach Drivers, Cigar-Makers and members of all other Trades to stand with us for the Eight-Hour Day, the restriction of Working Hours for Our Women and Children, and Universal Manhood Suffrage for our refugee Brothers seeking freedom from persecution in the realms of the Habsburgs, the Romanovs, and other Foreign Despots and Tyrants. We further seek the Solidarity of all upstanding Working Men against the Interlopers of the IWW and the Business Unions.

Molly Maguires Support May Day Action!
by Molly Saturday, Apr. 29, 2006 at 4:08 PM

Nevermind the foolish claims of the "IWW", the so-called (dark) Knights of Labor, nor the SEIU.

We, the Western Aux. Branch of the Molly Maguires will be supporting our Irish immigrant brethern on the streets of Pennsylvania, May 1st.

Those fools at the "IWW" have 893 dues paying members in the entire seas of North America. We have more dynamite throwers in the Carbon County mines alone! What century do you fools think this is?

The Knights of Labor? We Irish DO NOT trust any organization structured like those Free Mason fools. A real catholic worker secret society doesn't allow in any Cooper or Candlestick maker!

And the SEIU? The union that has organized hundreds of thousands of immigration workers from Houston to LA and fought for comphrensive immigration reform? Mere broom-pushers, I say! Try making a movement out of Mexican janitors, we dare you!

Friendship, Unity and Catholic Charity! Maguires forever!

meanwhile...
by ... Saturday, Apr. 29, 2006 at 4:30 PM

actual latino workers are hunger striking into week 3 now to win their union with seiu while the iww remains a high tea discussion society for the white dudes with dreads and without jobs.

http://www.yeswecane.org/

also check out:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch09.htm
for some tips about the mistakes of avoiding the masses and leading without followers, wobblies.

question about the issue
by mmmm Sunday, Apr. 30, 2006 at 7:49 PM

hey so is the main demand of protestors here to have access to the required tests etc to become citizens? or do they just want the gov't to say "here ur citizens now all of you" and thats it. i think if u come here to work and learn english then come on in and stay. but i'm just not sure what exactly is wanted here

learn english
by learn english Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 10:35 AM

It's 'you', not 'u', little 14 year old troll. Are you suggesting people learn Englisg from AIM?

learn english
by learn english Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 10:35 AM

It's 'you', not 'u', little 14 year old troll. Are you suggesting people learn English from AIM?

meanwhile
by ... Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 11:51 AM

While hunger strikers are starving, SEIU beuracrats are giving their dues money to the same Democrats who will vote in favor of criminalizing workers, the same Democrats who voted for the neo-liberal trade agreements which have displaced these workers. The SEIU will also hire new college grads who have never had a job as organizers, and will continue their role as a transmission belt between labor and capital.

The marxist-leninist crap seems quaint...

Knights of Labor denounces SEIU victory in Miami
by Terence Powderly, Grand Master Workman Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 4:58 PM

The Knights of Labor wishes to make it Known that it denounces the victory of the SEIU Hunger-Strikers at the University of Miami, as announced yesterday (http://www.yeswecane.org). While we Working-Men of the Knights have our differences with the IWW, we agree with the IWW on certain core principles, to wit:

* Like the IWW, we Reject the Idea that a Working-Men's Combination must "Organize," or have so-called "Members," or even "Exist."

* The SEIU Business Union model -- as exemplified by this disgraceful Hunger-Strike -- is based on so-called "Winning" in the vaunted "Real World." Like the IWW, the Knights of Labor believe that Form must take Pride of Place over so-called "Content." (We must also emphasize, however that we believe our Knights of Labor Seal and our sacred Oaths to be superior to IWW Bric-a-Brac.)

* We defend the Rank-and-File of the IWW from unprincipled SEIU Business Unionist charges, such as the Allegation that the IWW is for Layabouts and Malcontents who wear Rings of Iron through their Nostrils, and who sew the insignia of their favored Electronic-Musical combinations into the patches of their Pantaloons. Despite our profound Differences with the Misleaders of the IWW, we stand in Manly Support of its Members.

* We see nothing Funny about the phrase "Manly Support of its Members."

* We reject the repeated assertions of the SEIU Business Unionists that something called "the 20th Century" has "come and gone." At the same time we are committed to utilizing the Modern Technical Wonders of Civilization to their fullest Potential in the cause of The Emancipation of the Wage-Worker. Unlike members of the IWW, we will utilize Electricity not for the playing of frivolous Ditties, but for affixing our Knights of Labor Seal to ever-more-powerful Electronic Whirligigs.

* Like the IWW, we will now no longer vote for either Democrats or Republicans. Instead, we urge the Working Man to mark his Ballot for the Greenback-Labor Party.

The Working Man has been far too long dependent on Organizations that "Exist." We in the Knights stand for Principle, and Principle Alone!

man so many losers on here
by mmmm Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 6:59 PM

its a shame you (or u whichever i feel like)ask a simple question about an issue and not one of you can answer it. i can spell, speak etc as good as anyone but who gives a shit on the internet. but if you're that ignorant and know nothing about the immigration issue then fine make up your little insults that you'd never say in person to anyone. but if anyone can answer my post above about this situation then I appreciate it. If all you got is childish insults because you don't know anything, then join the republicans that act the same exact way when confronted with anything that may not fit their agenda.

sorta funny...
by hmm Tuesday, May. 02, 2006 at 11:27 PM

i can't decide what's most "quaint".

1. an "iww" blogger posting here mainly to be critical of the labor movement yet again, even when the iww doesn't really exist as part of the labor movement anymore -- except as a vehicle to be critical of unions actually doing work (by the way, those criticsims, fair or not, are usually better done by rank and file members of those unions than some dude who works at kinkos parttime and plays revolutionary on the internet.)

2. that this IWW guy calls a marxist-leninist writing "quaint", eventhough the iww's most famous founders included: big bill haywood (friend of lenin, advisior to the soviet union, buried in the kremlin), daniel deleon (marxist, praised by lenin in writing), eugene debs (socialist who ran for president, heaven forbid you talk to these modern 'wobblies' about voting), and lucy parsons (led the communist party's work later on the scottsboro case.) but hey this new generation of black clad anarchists are much superior to that "quaint" crowd of evil authoritarianists!

3. the fact that his response to the miami janitors organizing campaign, a well organized militant effort (that if the iww would have led, we would have seen all over the indymedia sites) is a tired rant against the evils of Democratic party, not a "way to go, we need more victories like that"

re: questions about the issue
by Misc Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 11:31 AM

I guess you're not aware that the current laws limit to a very small number the people from countries like Mexico who are legally allowed to become US citizens. There have been various exclusion laws in the past that even went as far as de-nationalizing US citizens who were of color and stripping them of any land they owned. The marches are part of the historical process of working class people of color fighting against discriminatory immigration laws. The way to think about this issue is that racism is bad, not good, because it divides us and holds us back. It's that simple.

You have decided and assumed much
by smells like lacny Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 12:57 PM

1. First and foremost, you assume I'm an IWW member, I'm not, nor am I a blogger. That's your kind of conceit, not mine. I was unaware that what passes for a US labor movement is beyond critcism, and that you needed to be paying into the CLC to voice any concerns or criticisms. Who died and made Andy Stern pope? I'm not on the board of the IMF, can I criticize them?
If you must know, I'm no 'dude' nor do I work at kinko's part-time. I've worked full-time for almost two decades, and I didn't have the luxury of college, so I could be a professional organizer, who has never held down a job. Do your "blogging only" actions count as "plays revolutionary on the internet"?
2. That right, get in the wayback machine to find something relevant that the authoritarian red facists have done, besides spending the irrevocable trusts that Upper West Side socialites bequeathed them in the '30s? Lenin's state capitalism looks a helluva lot like Bush's.

3. Kudos to the rank & file hunger strikers, but I stand by my criticism of the alleged leadership and their corporate and Democrat masters, who still favor the transnationals and oppose immigrant workers.
At least the Bushmen stand by their fundementalist wack-job base, which is more than you can say for the glassy-eyed Deanies, who have been selling out labor for years.

Hi, it's really me
by John Lacny Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 1:26 PM

I will neither confirm nor deny that I have here channeled the ghost of Terence Powderly. Other than that, though, I have never written for Indymedia under a pseudonym. Ever.

That said, a lot of the non-KoL responses to the so-called "IWW" here have been either funny, spectacularly true, or both. I'm just not responsible for them.

mea culpa
by sorry, mr. lacny Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 1:31 PM

The ghosts, regardless of who channeled them are awesome. I almost fell out of my rolling office chair.
Sorry to assume the other stuff was you. Pittsburgh is starting to develop a problem with young dummies and authoritarian lefty front groups. Used to be you were the main hater of anarchists and lover of Democrats. It's not hard to see how I made that mistake.
Sorry again.

IWW
by A. Wob Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 4:47 PM

So, I see from the comment above that we now have 893 members, where (probably posted by the same person before) we had only 75 a few years ago. Hmmm...I guess that's a good trend even though the numbers are deflated. Our members can vote if they want. We just don't endorse political parties (or "anti-political sects") as an organization.

SEIU and May 1
by B. Wob Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 4:54 PM

Why doesn't John Lacny address the issue of why what appeared to be most SEIU officials were not supporting the call for a strike, boycott, and protest on May 1?

no endorsements, but...
by blog on Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 5:09 PM

as he pointed out, they were quick to send 'peace marshalls' in other cities as if there aren't enough cops in the US.

Let's talk about everyone's favorite topic here: ME
by John Lacny Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 6:09 PM

To put an end to speculations about what is apparently everyone's favorite subject here -- me -- here's a field guide to my posts: if I address something seriously, I sign my own name to the post. If I feel like I would like to write something serious, but don't feel I want to associate my name with it at that point, then I don't write it at all. It's as simple as that.

(Satire is another matter entirely. And satire is the only appropriate response to someone who, in 2006, goes around saying they're a member of the IWW. It's no less ridiculous than saying you're a member of the Knights of Labor. Hence my point.)

The upshot of this is that most people here seem to know who I am, but I don't know who the rest of you goofballs are. As you might guess, though, I don't lose any sleep over this.

links for this stuff
by mmmm Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 6:55 PM

hey got any links to these laws about the severe limitations put on the ability of Mexicans to come to the USA? I just want to see for myself. Thanks for being decent though and answering a basic question. Some people clearly can't handle it. Probably dreaming of their "revolution" that 99% of our country doesn't want or care about at all. (and thats sad because I think we could use some serious upheaval and change). Anyways I think a good way to solve this is to make becoming a citizen either way cheaper or free as far as the cost of the process goes. Everyone should have a fair chance to come here and make a life if they want. Also severely punish US companies here that take advantage of immigrants and exploit them. I still say this all goes back to the disaster that is NAFTA.

number of wobs
by a really relevant topic i'm sure Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 8:29 PM

i think they meant 893 nationally.






ps for those who didn't understand that nonsense anarchist rant about lenin's russia being like bush's america (posted from another blog, all spelling mistakes not mine), maybe these translations will help.


<i>Anarchist Jargon:

Statist: Anyone who is not an Anarchist

Libertarian Marxist: An Anarchist who thinks that hammer and sickles are cooler than circle A symbols. Unrelated to the term Marxist.

People/Workers militia: Like a Maoist People's Army, but unsuccessful.

Leninists: Marxists

Rosa Luxemburg: A Leninist whose okay because she was unsuccessful.

Che Guevara: A Leninist whose okay because he looked cool.

EZLN: A revolutionary state that?s alright because they wear black masks.

Anarcho-Primitivists: Anarchists who like animals better than people

Anarcho-Communists: Anarchists who like people better than animals...unrelated to the term 'Communist.'

Direct Action: Purely symbolic indirect action, but with black flags.

Fidel Castro: Leninist Dictator of Cuba.
</i>

seiu and may 1st
by the pope-a Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 8:56 PM

according to the LA times, [SEIU] “coordinated the more than 100 buses that dropped off marchers from throughout California, Las Vegas and a few Southwestern cities.”

SEIU local 1 president Tom Balanoff was a featured speaker at the Chicago May 1st where thousands of their members participated.

and by the way, for whatever valid criticisms there are of andy stern (i can think of a few myself, though none are really relevant to this thread), SEIU, UNITE, and HERE are the main reason the afl-cio no longer takes an offically anti-immigrant stance. that was changed at the 1999 convention because of those unions you are attacking putting pressure on the fed.

Re: links for this stuff
by Misc Wednesday, May. 03, 2006 at 10:51 PM

Key term: diversity visa lottery (AKA nationality control)
limit for Mexico etc.:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

Mexicans are not even eligible because more than 50,000 have immigrated in the last 5 years

For many people from many countries there basically is no legal way to become a US citizen

Past laws: google for Chinese Exclusion Act, Asian Exclusion Law.

The 1946 Luce-Cellar Act allowed South Asians to become US citizens, previously they had been stripped of their nationality and land even though some were US citizens. This oppened the way for the first Asian-American US Senator, Dalip Saund, who also campaigned against racist immigration laws when he was excluded from becoming a US citizen.

thanks misc
by mmmmm Thursday, May. 04, 2006 at 12:46 AM

well this is anything but racist because i see that citizens from Poland, Russia, England, and Canada are excluded due to sending over 50,000 people as well. This excludes every race of people when you take into account the racial make-up of those forbidden from sending more over. Our immigration process needs some changes i agree because it does suck and they should make it affordable to all peoples of all incomes who want to become legal citizens. But you still can't have a global free-for-all where millions just flood certain countries at uncontrollable rates either. It makes everything far more difficult. I just hope some reasonable conclusion is brought from all this (although i doubt it).

re: thanks misc
by Misc Thursday, May. 04, 2006 at 10:03 AM

Although countries like Canada and the UK are also not part of the diversity lottery system, there are other ways for Canadians and UK citizens to immigrate to the US that are not available for Mexico. In reality immigration is not accessible to people of color by intention, which goes to your original point about why don't people from Mexico just go through the (practically non-existent) legal process.

copy and paste
by blogs away (from me) Thursday, May. 04, 2006 at 11:22 AM

Just like your counterparts on the right, you feel that someone else's opinion from their blog or the long-discredited writings of the long-dead are a sure substitute for facts.
At no point did I use any of the terms in your little glossary.

The difference between Bush and Lenin is Bush doesn't slaughter anti-authoritarians, again, their state capitalism looks very similar.

Beware if you reenter reality from the blogosphere. While sadly, some amnesiac anarchists tolerate your kind, I'm not one of them. So guard your newspaper money. No Petrograd or May Days surprises for me.

how'd it go?
by joe Friday, Nov. 10, 2006 at 3:36 PM

so how did that IWW general strike on may day turn out?
did you get a majority of the working class to support it?

please update.

wobbly in australia.

May Day
by North Side Slim Friday, Nov. 10, 2006 at 4:06 PM

Actually, the march was only several hundred people, but considering there is not a large immigrant community here compared to other areas, the turnout was not bad.

In other areas, branches helped to spread the word -- this was not the IWW's call for a general strike, but rather a call to support immigrant workers who had organized to stop production on May 1.

There were hundreds of thousands of workers out around the country. Businesses in key industries were shut down, and the most repressive legislation was shelved.

All in all, I think it went fairly well.