“The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose — especially their lives.
And here let me emphasize the fact — and it cannot be repeated too often — that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace.
Yours not to reason why;
Yours but to do and die.
That is their motto and we object on the part of the awakening workers of this nation.
If war is right let it be declared by the people. You who have your lives to lose, you certainly above all others have the right to decide the momentous issue of war or peace.”
From “The Subject Class Always Fights the Battles”
by Eugene Debs (June 16, 1918
Upcoming Events 🗓
The seventh series of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee’s Organizer Training Series is coming up soon! In four discussion sessions over two weeks, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles of effective shop-floor organizing: mapping and charting, leader identification, bringing co-workers together around common concerns, getting over fear, taking action, and escalating demands. Sessions begin Wednesday, March 9. Sign up here today!
Join us this Wednesday, March 4, at 11 a.m. ET for our second-ever Reddit AMA! The AMA will feature EWOC organizer Sara Bijani and Jacobin staff writer Alex Press. Stop by at reddit.com/r/workplaceorganizing.
World of Work 🌍
CA: Activision Blizzard and Raven Software QA workers are looking to define employees eligible for Game Workers Alliance. The union group formed in January with the assistance of Communication Workers of America (CWA). Union representatives have raised concerns about whether Activision Blizzard’s various responses to employees’ unionization efforts constitute union-busting.
US: In January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered a report that can only be seen as disquieting. Despite “Striketober,” and in the wake of Americans waking to a possibility of a more equitable tomorrow, we are returning to a slow-motion train-wreck. The AFL-CIO is responding with “We need labor reform. Pass the PRO Act!” But those who command the union treasuries can’t just whine for legislation — they have to get back on the horse and try to organize.
Haiti: Haiti’s government on Monday hiked the minimum wage by as much as 54%, following weeks of demonstrations by garment workers who say their wages are not enough to keep up with the rising cost of living.
NY: REI workers in NYC will be voting this week on whether or not to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) after more than a year of organizing. These workers have stayed strong even in the face of an intense union busting campaign from the company. Support them going into the vote this week by signing their petition.
USA: The Starbucks unionization wave continues to sweep the country, as the Mesa, Ariz., store voted to become the third union Starbucks this past week. Despite union-busting efforts from management, workers won in a landslide, with a final vote of 25-3. There are now over 100 Starbucks that have filed to unionize, and the number is rapidly climbing.
Week in Labor History 📚
Feb. 25, 1941: The February Strike (Dutch: Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941 during World War II organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands. The February Strike also marked the birth of large scale resistance to the Nazis in the Netherlands. Although far-left parties had begun to organize prior to this, the February Strike demonstrated the reality of mass opposition to the Nazis. Each year, the strike is commemorated with a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument raised to the memory of the strikers.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC
