Anarchoblogs

The following appeal for online solidarity with workers at the Xerox corporation comes from the American Rights At Work group.

Seems that the Mott's company is waging a campaign to have the Caesar declared the "national cocktail" of Canada. I never knew that countries had "national cocktails", and I'm sure that this would be an occasion for endless puns. If the idea ever takes off, however, Mott's behavior would probably fit it to be the 'national cocktail' of a place like North Korea. Molly has blogged before on the long standing strike at the Mott's plant in Williamson New York. In response to this latest Canadian campaign the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada have opened a petition in solidarity with their American fellow workers and against the Motts campaign. Here's the story >>>>

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No to Clamato! Down with Caesar!

Mix one part greed with a big dash of corporate bullying, and what you get is the company behind Mott’s Clamato beverage.

Doesn’t sound very Canadian does it? Well, Mott’s isn’t Canadian, and Clamato isn’t made in Canada — so don’t be fooled by a new campaign to have the Clamato Caesar named the national cocktail of Canada!

Mott’s Clamato is a brand owned by Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) Group — the hugely successful multinational which has tried to force a bitter and malicious cocktail of wage and pension cuts on 300 workers at a very profitable Mott’s plant in Williamson, New York.

That’s why tens of thousands of activists across Canada and the USA have said NO to buying Mott’s products — including Clamato — to show their support for the UFCW/RWDSU Local 220 workers in Williamson, New York.


So add your name to the petition and say “NO to Clamato" and "Down with Caesar” until the DPS/Motts empire stops acting like a bunch of dictators.

Molly has blogged before about the strike at the Mott's facility in Williamson New York. The strike continues, and the company has hired scabs to try and break the strike. The following appeal from the American Rights At Work group asks you to register your support for the striking workers.

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Tell Mott's: get the scabs out of your applesauce!
Even in a depressed economy, Mott's – the huge applesauce and juice company – is thriving. Just last year, its parent company earned $555 million in profits.

But instead of rewarding its workers for that success, Mott’s is keeping all the profits – and then some. At one facility in Williamson, NY, management tried to slash workers’ wages by as much as $1.50 per hour AND take away their pension plan! And when the workers went on strike, Mott’s hired strike breakers – otherwise known as scabs – to cross the picket line.

Tell the President of Mott’s parent company: Mott's workers deserve better!

Molly has blogged several times on the Motts strike in New York State. Here's the statement from the workers involved via the RWDSU.

The long strike at the Motts plant in Williamson New York has taken on a new dimension as Motts' workers have begun to picket at plants to which the company is outsourcing its production. Molly has blogged previously on this strike. See that reference for a letter of support for the Motts strikers that you can add your name to. Here's the story of their new actions from the webpage of their union the RWDSU.

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Mott’s Workers Take Picket Line to National Fruit in Virginia

Members of RWDSU Local 220 on strike for nearly 8 weeks against Mott’s are taking their picket line to the National Fruit manufacturing plant in Winchester, Virginia, to protest Mott’s outsourcing and co-packing of applesauce due to slowed production in the Mott’s Williamson, New York, plant. Strikers and union members will be leafleting National Fruit production workers about the ongoing labor dispute at Mott's.

Mott's strikers set up new picket lines in front of the National Fruit Product Company facility located at 701 Fairmont Avenue in Winchester, Virginia, this morning. National Fruit Product Company manufactures apple juices and sauces, apple rings, apple butter and vinegar products trading under the White House label. National Fruit is a direct competitor of Mott’s.

“We always knew they couldn’t run efficiently without us, but now we have proof with the National Fruit co-packing,” said Stephanie Draper, a striking Line Technician at Mott’s in Williamson.

“They have a factory in Williamson, New York, made for applesauce manufacturing, with hundreds of unskilled workers inside and yet they have to send Mott’s labels to their competitors to stick on other applesauce? All we are asking for is to keep what we have, not to make great gains. It seems like Dr Pepper is determined to make management choices that hurt their shareholders and undermine Mott’s quality,” added Bruce Beal, Label Operator at the Williamson plant.

The following appeal for solidarity with laid off nursery workers in the USA comes from the United Farm Workers.

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Stand in Solidarity with Laid Off Nursery Workers

Nurserymen’s Exchange is one of the nation’s largest wholesalers of nursery plants. Until recently they employed a work force of around 300. The situation at Nurserymen’s Exchange wasn’t great. There were ridiculous quotas, injuries and other problems, but workers still stuck around because it was a least a steady paycheck. Then in early July they laid off nearly half of their employees. Many of these workers were long time employees who worked with the company for decades.

Twenty-nine year employee and team leader, Lourdes Patino was one of these 132 laid off workers. She tells us to add insult to injury, the company told the employees the reason they were laid off was because there was no work for them, but in reality the company wanted to hire out of town labor contractor workers so they could pay cheap wages and no benefits. Lourdes told us she knew this because “on our last day, management told us they would give us the phone number of the farm labor contractor so we can talk to him and he could hire us to work again, paying us minimum wage and no benefits. I think it’s not fair for us because they want to bring us back to work for the minimum wage.”

Shortly after they were laid off, the workers contacted the union and we are doing all we can to help them get their jobs back. Help us take a stand to hold corporations like this accountable. A bad economy is not an excuse for sleazy behavior. Won’t you help?

Many have complained about excessive secrecy surrounding British Petroleum's cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Besides simply restricting reportage, however, BP also calculates each and every item as to the "spin" that may result. Often decisions are made not because of efficacy or even human safety but rather because of the image they project. One of these is the decision to not issue proper safety gear to those involved in the cleanup. Here's a petition from the American Rights At Work group demanding that BP take the health of its temporary labour into consideration.

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Tell BP That Worker Health Comes Before PR!

More than 100 people in the Gulf have reported identical illnesses from BP's oil spill, and that doesn't include untold numbers of workers hiding their symptoms for fear of being fired by BP.

Yet despite clear evidence that cleanup workers are sick, BP won't provide respirators. Why not? For starters, BP is afraid that news footage of people wearing this critical safety equipment will show the public just how bad the spill is.

No amount of good PR is worth the health and lives of people battling BP's oil in the Gulf Coast.

Tell BP: Don't put PR above cleanup workers' health.

Sign the petition!
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"BP should take every possible step to keep cleanup workers safe, including providing and paying for the proper respirators needed to protect workers' lungs."



Your petition will be sent to:
BP CEO Tony Hayward
cc: OSHA Director David Michaels
cc: U.S. National Incident Commander Thad Allen
cc: U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis