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101 Factory Workers Laid Off in Harahan

Vulture Capitalists Steal Jobs

By Gregory William

The Walle Corporation is a sign and label-making firm founded in New Orleans in 1872. On December 6, the company’s new owners announced they are shutting down their Harahan factory, leaving 101 workers jobless.

These workers are the victims of financial predators. Only a month ago, Walle was taken over by the Fort Dearborn Company, a label-maker based in Chicago. Fort Dearborn is controlled by a private equity firm called Advent International, which has been buying up similar firms across the U.S., cutting jobs and closing operations left and right. This is a common story in today’s economy.

Private equity firms are companies that produce nothing. They specialize in buying up and “restructuring” other businesses (laying off workers to increase profits). Sometimes this is done to resell the company at a higher price, but often the intention is merely to shut the company down and take the wealth that has been generated by the workers. This is what happened in October when Bayou Steel filed for bankruptcy and closed its plant in LaPlace after being acquired by the private equity firm Black Diamond.

Harlan County miners show the way
Workers in this situation can learn from the recent resistance of miners in Harlan County, KY. After being laid off by coal giant Blackjewel, these workers set up camp on the railroad, blocking the transport of coal that they had mined.

Initially, Blackjewel was not even going to pay the wages they owed, but their militant actions (which involved union and non-union workers, as well as support from transgender activists and others) resulted in the workers getting $5.5 million in back pay.

Workers at Walle should claim their right to the Harahan factory
Walle employees in Harahan could occupy the facility, preventing the products of their labor from being hauled off, especially if they are supported by the broader community. They can demand that the factory stay open, run by a democratic assembly of the workers. This has worked many times in recent history. After financial troubles began rocking Argentina in 2001, workers took over many businesses, including hotels, factories, and waste collection services. By 2014, as many as 311 businesses across the country were occupied. Workers can, and do, run things without parasitic bosses.

The New Orleans Workers Group is willing to organize and stand in solidarity with any Walle Company workers who want to fight. We must dare to struggle and dare to win!

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Poem from the Family of Quinnyon Wimberly

Quinnyon Wimberly Died in the Hard Rock Hotel

On Oct. 12, the Hard Rock Hotel under construction collapsed, killing three workers and injuring dozens more. Anthony Magrette, Quinnyon Wimberly, and Jose Ponce Arreola were murdered by corporate greed. Horrendously, three months later, two of their bodies are still in the ruins of the toppled building. Longtime resident and metal worker Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma was illegally deported to Honduras to prevent him from testifying about the conditions that led to the collapse. Ramirez witnessed that workers had reported hazards to the bosses who continued the work anyway. The city has done nothing.

Quinnyon & Jose:
The Forgotten Ones Not Recovered
By Tommie Wimberly, Sr.
Two hard working men supporting their families
Making an honest living with dignity
Went to work one Sunday cause of loyalty
Working inside of an unstable building that collapsed because of negligence
caused fatal injury

Two men dedicated to the careers they possessed
Who deserve honor from the people their talented hands have blessed
Left their homes one morning not knowing they would not return
Now lost under rubble and the city leaders claim they are concerned
Everyday saying recovery is their “number one priority”
As each day passes by it seems recovery
Is just talk
No action. No accountability.

Another week has passed and the talk of recovering the bodies is fading away
Family and friends are wondering:
“will this be the search and recovery day?”
Waiting for officials very patiently
To recover the remains of those hard-working citizens
who deserve a proper burial with dignity

I would like to apologize for the injustice that happened to you all
For working inside an environment that caused those floors and walls to fall.

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Marched for Memphis Sanitation Workers

Honor New Orleans Sanitation Workers with Higher Wages, Better Conditions,  Respect, Union Rights

By Sanashihla

Memphis and New Orleans are cities with rich traditions, culture and histories of resistance to oppression. Both cities have ports to the Mississippi river. Both cities have a high population of Black people suffering from poverty. Both cities have had workers who died from unsafe work environments, neglect, and abuse of power. It’s time for workers to rise and fight!

Time for all workers to stand up
On February 1, 1968 two Memphis based sanitation workers, Robert Walker and Echol Cole, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck.

On October 12, 2019 three New Orleans construction workers, Jose Ponce Arreola, Quinnyon Wimberly, and Anthony Magrette were killed during the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel. Construction continued despite workers having voiced concerns about bent beams and flawed materials being used during construction.

Had the Hard Rock workers in New Orleans not been denied union rights, they could have forced the bosses to address the safety concerns or walked off the job without punishment and with pay.

However, due to the greed and disregard for the workers, the bosses and city officials in both cases put dedicated workers’ lives in jeopardy. The bosses know workers need paychecks, even under unsafe situations. They push the workers because they know that other business owners are pressing them for rent or charging them for food and all other necessities for daily survival. This puts workers in a bind.

History has lessons for us today
After almost two weeks of getting no response from the city about the 1968 death of the two Memphis based sanitation workers, 1,300 Black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike for improved safety standards and better wages.

The Memphis workers of 1968 had a union. And because they were organized and had learned the lessons of a previous strike, they were able to gain necessary support. The strike became not only part of the union struggle but the national fight for civil rights. Memphis sanitation workers were Black, and the bad conditions they faced were also a byproduct of racism.

The working class cannot and will not wait for anyone else to come save us
Workers in New Orleans face the same conditions. But most workers here do not have a union. In order to improve conditions, workers must get organized on all fronts! The business owners know that a union would have had the power to do something about the safety concerns expressed by the workers. A union could have saved lives. But they don’t care. We workers must care, get organized, and fight back!

Our power is our labor and organizing
From Memphis to New Orleans, the words of Dr. King’s very last speech should inspire us today: “The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya: Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee—the cry is always the same: We want to be free!”

Dr. King believed in the power of the people. He believed in the power of organizing, and the organizing of power. The real power is in our labor and what we decide to do or not do collectively with that labor! Dr. King emphasized, “we don’t have to live like we are forced to live[…]When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.”

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Filthy Rich Declare War on Workers: 2020 is Year to Unite and Fight Back!

Cuts to Food Stamps, Medicaid, Workers Rights Will Hurt All Workers

One social program after another is being cut. Overtime and safety laws are being gutted. Millions of people are losing food stamps, others Medicaid. Threats are made to completely cut Medicaid and Social Security. Trump is moving to kick people off of disability benefits. Millions are imprisoned for slave labor or thrown into migrant prisons. Meanwhile, more than $1 trillion ($1,000,000,000,000) is handed out to ultra rich war profiteers who have bribed politicians into slashing taxes for the ultra rich.

The purpose of these attacks is to make all workers poorer. The capitalist class wants more and more people to be desperate to accept jobs for low pay.

This will bring down the pay of all other workers. It’s a race to the bottom unless we fight back.

Every one of the social programs we once had were won by workers fighting for them. Some go back to the massive movement of workers in the 1930’s when workers won unemployment insurance as a benefit to all workers. Capitalist politicians—both Democrat and Republican—have sought at every turn to wipe these out, treating unemployed workers as criminal “welfare recipients” while the lazy rich get tax credits galore.

44% of the U.S. workforce makes less than $18,000 a year, and millions more are barely above that. Yet the 1% have amassed incredible fortunes, and the gap gets worse every year. Both Trump and the majority of the Democratic Party are funded by these greedy, disgusting people.

If you still have a job with survival wages, it may feel okay to turn your back on cuts to the poorest workers. But this is a wakeup call: they are coming after you, too.

Solidarity of all workers needed to fight back against the capitalists
In France today, millions of workers have shut down the country to stop the theft of their pensions. In Chile today, millions are saying no to austerity. This is true around the world.

Massive worker protests are needed in 2020
Every worker and community organizer can circulate a petition calling on working-class communities, unions, and activists to support the call for a massive protest. Don’t depend on an election or politicians—unite and fight.

Petition:
Time to Unite and Fight!
To Unions, Community Groups, Activists:
We, the undersigned, are joining the call for the millions of workers to unite and fight against low wages, cuts to social programs, pension theft, and for a stop to endless wars and the destruction of the planet.

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Do Like Dr. King: Oppose Imperialist War

The United States is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Malcolm Suber

For more than two decades, the U.S. public has been treated to annual MLK marches that repeat the mantra from the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King pronounced his dream that the U.S. would be a country where one day his four little children would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The racist white ruling class annually cites this vague dream as a measure of the progress that Black people have made in this country. This has prevented us from evaluating the entire scope of continued Black oppression in the U.S.

Dr. King kept moving and organizing after the March on Washington. His vision also began to grow beyond the fight for civil rights for the oppressed Black nation. By 1967, Dr. King had studied national liberation movements around the globe and had concluded that his duty went beyond the fight to reform racist U.S. domestic policies. Perhaps the best example of his growing consciousness was his speech “Beyond Vietnam,” delivered at the Riverside Church in New York City. This is a speech that the ruling class does not want you to hear and study.

By 1967 the war in Vietnam was gaining the attention of everyone, and millions of anti-war protesters hit the streets demanding an end to U.S. carnage of the Vietnamese, who were trying to gain national independence for their homeland. These mass marches were inspired by the civil rights struggle.

In 1967 the war was at its peak, with about 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam. The U.S. would drop more bombs on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia than were dropped in all of Europe during WWII. This objective situation forced
Dr. King to conclude that the U.S. was “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”

King saw the U.S. war on Vietnam  as an enemy of the poor.

The ruling class and its press condemned King for speaking out against the war, threatening to cut off funding for the civil rights struggle. But for King, standing against racial and economic inequality meant exposing how the military-industrial complex had become an essential part of capitalist exploitation. King saw the war as an enemy of the poor. He saw the army using poor Black and white young men as cannon fodder to pursue the aims of U.S. imperialism. King said Vietnam was an unjust war meant to continue the domination of Western capitalist governments over colonial peoples.

King’s stance on the Vietnam war applies to U.S. imperialism’s present policy of forever war spread across multiple countries from its more than 800 military bases around the world. The ruling class formula for its forever war doctrine comes directly from lessons it learned in Vietnam: drone strikes instead of mass bombings; volunteer soldiers instead of draftees; censorship of images of mangled bodies returning from the battlefronts; and unquestioning reverence for the military.

The Pentagon-sponsored mantras of “thank you for your service” and “support our troops” go hand in hand with the ruling-class attempts to prevent the revival of a mass anti-war movement. This movement would demand cutting the military budget as well. King would join us today and urge us to rebuild the anti-imperialist, anti-war movement.

We ask that you honor Dr. King by joining our freedom struggle to end the rule of the capitalist class and to close all U.S. bases around the world.

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Billions for Agribusiness and Seafood Bosses, Nothing for the Workers

Seafood Workers Alliance/Alianza de Trabajadorxs de Marsico y Pescado.

Bail Out the Workers!

By Joseph Rosen

The year through May 2019 was the wettest 12-month period on record in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Floods affected 14 million people during this time. The Mississippi River carried floodwater and agricultural runoff deep into the Gulf of Mexico, precipitating a “catastrophic regional fishery disaster,” according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. In response Congress has appropriated $165 million for damages. However, these funds are earmarked for “eligible fisheries,” not for the workers who have lost jobs or wages as a result of this latest capitalist-caused climate change disaster.

The workers deserve a bailout of their own. After all, they are the source of all wealth generated by the seafood industry.

Floodwaters killed 95% of oysters in the Mississippi Sound and toxic algae blooms forced Mississippi beaches to shut down for the entire summer season. As a result, the director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources reported a loss of $150 million to businesses ranging from restaurants to hotels and seafood processing plants. In Louisiana, Gov. Edwards announced that the fishing industry suffered a loss of $258 million.

These figures only reflect a loss of business revenue. What about the loss of wages for deckhands or for workers in seafood processing, food preparation and hospitality? According to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, more than 25,000 people work in the Louisiana seafood industry alone. While businesses are awaiting their bailouts, workers have suffered setbacks to their health and their housing because of the loss of work.

If the bailouts look anything like those going to agribusiness to pay for Trump’s disastrous trade war, the bulk of the federal funds­—aka tax-payer dollars—will go to big monopoly companies leaving workers by the wayside. Last year the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture set up the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to shield so called “family farmers” from the loss of revenue due to retaliatory tariffs. The U.S. government has already disbursed $14.4 billion in relief through MFP. The top one-tenth richest recipients have received the majority of all payments. Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation predicts that 67,000 jobs will be lost in the agricultural sector due to Trump’s anti-China trade war.

Big seafood companies are already being subsidized by taxpayers. Omega Proteins, a company whose workers harvest almost all of the menhaden (pogies) from U.S. waters, has received $2,910,958 in tax subsidies from the state of Louisiana since 2010. In that time, at least 5 workers have been killed by unsafe working conditions on Omega’s watch.

The $165 million earmarked for fisheries should be used to help laid off workers get back on their feet. We workers need to fight for our right to a decent, stable, and safe job; the bosses are never going to do that for us.

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Students Stand Up, Fight Back!

Across the country, students are standing up to “hoodie bans” and other oppressive rules.

By Enigma E

This past November students at Helen Cox High School in Harvey, LA walked out of class to protest the injustice done to a female Muslim student, who was harassed and violated by the school administration for wearing a hooded jacket. She was asked to take off her hoodie, which she was using to protect against the cold weather and as a covering for her body as she respectfully practices her faith of Islam. When the administrator tried to forcibly remove the hoodie from the young woman, students came to her defense, which led to the walk-out. As the students protested the oppressive hoodie rule and the mistreatment of one of their peers, the administration called the cops which only escalated the situation. Six cop cars and two firetrucks showed up to the school. The cops arrested a sixteen-year-old student and charged him with battery of a police officer in addition to other charges.

The students were reacting to the over policing of their bodies and culture. Jefferson Parish School District started enforcing the “hoodie rule” after the murder of Trayvon Martin, while the racist, capitalist-owned media was busy blaming Trayvon for his own murder. This campaign went hard criminalizing young Black people for their choice of clothing.

The way the police handled the youth at their school is indicative of how the police handle poor people on the streets. The police don’t handle rich white people the way they handle poor people of color. It’s been like that for the entire history of AmeriKKKa. Across the globe, capitalist white supremacist rule holds back the masses of the global working class.

The ruling class news sold the students’ righteous protest as “Muslim student’s refusal to remove hoodie leads to chaos at Helen Cox High School.” This oppressive headline implies to the reader that some crazy non-white, non-Christian students were acting violently. The Workers Voice says the students have the right to stand up against oppression!

More actions like this are needed in schools and cities across the country. The world is waiting for the U.S. working class to rise up and revolt against their oppressors. If we don’t, the rich ruling class will continue to make things worse for us. We have to fight back. The youth are some of the most fearless fighters the working class has got.

Young people are justified in their frustration with the capitalist system. They just have to direct that rage towards revolution! Let the youth be free! All power to the people!

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High Schoolers’ Freedom of Expression Under Attack

By Adam Pedesclaux

Far from doing anything to address the root causes of mass shootings, Congress is using these tragedies to sneak an attack on students’ right to privacy and free speech. Texas Senator John Cornyn recently introduced a bill called the Restoring, Enhancing, Securing, and Promoting Our Nation’s Safety Efforts (RESPONSE) Act which would broaden the discretion police have to surveil and repress students based on their online activity. The act would also require federally funded schools to contract for-profit surveillance companies to monitor students’ social media posts for “inappropriate content.”

People are understandably desperate to put an end to mass shootings, but that’s not what this act is really about. If Senator Cornyn were really concerned about curbing mass shootings, he would denounce the white supremacist National Rifle Association and other lobbies for the arms profiteers. Cornyn won’t because he’d lose a source of campaign funds, having taken over $210,000 from these lobbies.

The real reason that this bill has been proposed is that students are beginning to rise up against the oppressive conditions they face in and out of school. The capitalists and their politicians view this as a threat, so they’re moving to suppress the youth’s power.

This act falls in line with other national tragedies that have been used to increase police surveillance on U.S. residents. They want to use school shootings as cover for the diversion of more of our tax dollars to private surveillance companies. They want to empower police to judge whether or not students’ posts are “suspect” or not. The record on police fusion center databases is clear: a person’s speech is most likely to be judged “suspect” when they disagree with the policies of the U.S. government. Progressive minded—not to mention revolutionary—people will be hounded by these “Big Brother” type programs while openly violent white supremacists occupy Congress and the White House. The FBI names earth protectors as one of the largest threats to the country. Funny that they pose such a threat to capitalism!

As workers, we must stop putting up with these bullshit programs. We cannot keep sacrificing our rights to millionaire liars. If we want violence to stop, it is CRITICAL that we ORGANIZE our own communities. The Feds are not going to protect us. We workers hold the collective power to protect our loved ones.

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LGBTQ Workers Benefit from a Union

National union leaders and LGBTQ activists and allies at the Pride at Work Triennial Convention.

By Sally Jane Black

Whether it’s being fired for who we are or harassment over what bathroom we use, sexual assault from customers or offensive homophobic jokes from our bosses, LGBTQ workers often face hostile work environments, especially from bosses and owners. 22% of LGBTQ people face discrimination on the job, with LGBTQ people of color facing it far more often. Nearly half of all LGBTQ workers are in the closet at work because they fear discrimination.

To whom can you turn?

Laws Don’t Protect Us
Though Title VII laws were reinterpreted under Obama to allegedly protect LGBTQ workers, the current administration has rolled that back. The issue is now in the courts. There is no state-level law to protect you, and the city ordinance has no teeth (though the New Orleans Human Rights Commission has recently gained investigative powers, they still have no power to enforce the ordinance on the books). Even if there were laws to protect you, you don’t have the money to take anyone to court.

The cops won’t do anything. They’re on the side of the bosses. For most, there’s no way to fight back.

Solidarity is the Answer
In some workplaces, however, LGBTQ workers can turn to the union.
In 1988, workers in Boston organized and went on strike, taking on Harvard University. On their list of demands were raises, healthcare benefits, and protections for gay workers. The university came back with everything but the protections, and the workers refused to go back to work. After a few more days, Harvard conceded. They won the protections in their union contract.

Around the country, LGBTQ protections have become a common part of union contracts, and in union workplaces, LGBTQ workers have their contracts to protect them and the union to back them up.

“An Injury to One Is an Injury to All” is the spirit in which the organization Pride at Work fights against discrimination. Founded in 1994, Pride at Work supports LGBTQ union members around the country. The fight for workers’ rights must include ALL workers; by standing together, we win not just better wages and benefits, but protection from harassment, discrimination, and violence in the workplace. Only as organized workers standing in solidarity can we protect ourselves from homophobia and transphobia.

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Domestic Workers Fight to Win Bill of Rights

The Philadelphia City Council has passed a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. This is the result of a year-long campaign waged by the Pennsylvania Domestic Workers Alliance, which is affiliated with the National Domestic Workers Alliance. The passage of the bill is a gigantic win for the city’s 16,000 domestic workers, including housekeepers, gardeners, and those who care for children and the elderly.

The new legislation requires employers to have a written contract outlining scheduling, pay rates, and more. Employers must now provide two weeks notice before termination. The bill stipulates requirements for paid time off, meal, and rest breaks.

Nationally, domestic workers lack basic protections. The federal government does not guarantee them the right to a minimum wage, or to unionize. They do not have the right to overtime pay, nor do they have protection from discrimination and harassment. There are over 2 million domestic workers in the U.S. workforce, and they are disproportionately women, immigrants, and people of color. They are some of the most vulnerable workers in the country.

As with other categories of workers, we can see that the only way to change this situation is to organize and fight, as the Philadelphia Domestic Workers Alliance is doing.