British Workers Fight Back

The British section of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) are in full force this news cycle, fighting for workers' rights at both Pizza Hut and Guildhall.

The Britain and Ireland Regional Administration of the IWW recently received its "Certificate of Independence," which gives them the same rights as other unions in Britain.

Pizza Hut workers in Sheffield are fighting for better pay and better working conditions, especially for delivery drivers. Among their demands are safer scooters and better maintenance.

“Working conditions at the company are very bad, the hourly rate is £5.83,” said one employee.

“Delivery drivers who have no license for the scooters have to use their own vehicle, but they are only reimbursed £0.6 per delivery. It’s a total rip off! We have filed a collective grievance against this situation.”

So far, the IWW has forced management to admit that commission for delivery drivers could be better. They have also won new scooters.

The union is now trying to expand to more Pizza Huts in the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, London cleaners (janitors) in the IWW Cleaners and Allied Industries Branch have won a series of victories at Guildhall, their workplace at the Corporation of London. The Corporation of London is the municipal governing body of the City of London. The cleaners are employees of Ocean Contract Cleaning, a company with a history of frequently underpaying, or not paying, its workers.

Many of the cleaners of Guildhall are immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and are subjected to abuse in the workplace because of this. They were constantly underpaid and some workers had to wait for months just to get wages that were owed to them. They are condemned to a strict attendance policy where if somebody is five minutes late, they are sent home, and they are fired if they are late again. The 34 cleaners of Guildhall organized in June, refusing to work until they were assured they would be paid properly. Despite the promises of their employer, they were left with two weeks worth of wages unpaid. The workers filed a collective grievance against the contractor via the IWW.

On July 15th, the IWW cleaners held a day of action by protesting outside of Guildhall. They were joined in solidarity by other IWW members, cleaners from other job sites in London, other labor unions from a variety of trades, and students.

This effectively forced the management of Ocean and the Corporation of London to invite the union to negotiations. In the end, the IWW secured the payment of wages owed to its members at Guildhall.

The Industrial Workers of the World, formed in the United States in 1905 by Marxists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists, is an anti-capitalist, militant labor union for all workers. It organizes both skilled and unskilled workers, as well as the unemployed.

Gov. Rick Scott Lies About Drugs, Profits from Prisons

Recent test results from Florida show that only 2 percent of temporary cash assistance applicants use drugs. This proves that Florida Governor Rick Scott was completely wrong in his bigoted claims that welfare recipients use drugs at higher rates than other people.

The Florida legislature passed a law earlier this year requiring all temporary cash assistance applicants be tested for drug use. Ninety-six percent were clean, while only 2 percent withdrew their applications for unknown reasons. The state will save only $60,000 at best from the rejected applicants.

This only shows that right-wingers are telling lies to demonize workers and the unemployed so they can cut social programs that help the poor.

In other Rick Scott related news, he wants to privatize Florida's prisons. This has lead the Teamsters Union to file an ethics complaint against him.

The union stated that Scott received $1 million in campaign funds from two private prison companies, GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America. In return, Scott is now advocating for the privatization of prisons in Florida.

They contend that this will result in the loss of 3,800 jobs and decrease public safety. The Partisan contends that it will increase the amount of people behind bars who shouldn't be locked up. These prison companies clearly want to profit from the captivity, enslavement, and misery of other human beings.