[Crsd] New IWW job branch recognized in CA

[Monty Kroopkin]

Fellow Workers, Friends,This is truly good news for our union!
OBU!
Monty Kroopkin

Please note: forwarded message attached



From: Los Angeles IWW <losangeles at iww.org>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2018 14:25:52 -0700
Subject: UAW 2865 Staff
Cc: IWW GHQ <ghq at iww.org>, Cole Dorsey <cole at iww.org>, odb at iww.org, bayarea at iww.org, 
 sandiego at iww.org, sacramento at iww.org, 
 LAGMB Treasurer <treasurer.lagmb at gmail.com>, Shannen Maas <shannen at riseup.net>, 
 john baranski <jbwob at yahoo.com>, mk at iww.org
CC: GHQ, ODB, LA GMB GEB contact, BSTs of SFBA GMB, SD GMB, and Sac GMB,  Fellow Workers, In January of 2018 the Los Angeles GMB were contacted by a group of staff organizers and clerical staff who work for UAW Local 2865.  The local is state-wide and represents graduate student workers at University of California schools.  The union staff had decided to organize a union with the intention of securing a contract, and reached out to the branch for assistance and questions about affiliating.  One of our organizers fielded a few initial phone calls and we assessed the campaign as serious and winnable.  After some discussion among our branch's Organizing Team, we decided to take the campaign on.  We had some concerns, one of which was branch affiliation, as the workers in the potential job branch were spread from as far north as Sacramento and as far south as La Jolla.  We discussed the options with the organizing committee and they made a deliberate choice to affiliate to the LA branch, owing to a number of factors, including where bargaining was expected to take place.  We want to acknowledge that we did not do our due diligence by contacting other California IWW branches until now, but the campaign moved quickly, our energies were limited, and the workers in the shop were clear about their intentions. The organizing committee was notably self-sustaining and they built their own strategy, and won voluntary recognition quickly.  Bargaining sessions commenced with the executive board soon after that, and the contract was ratified in May.  The finalized document is attached.  The job branch has elected two shop stewards, one in LA and one in the Bay Area. We're sending this email to open the lines of communication given the geographic spread of the job branch.  We intend to continue processing dues locally via the LA GMB's automatic payment option.  We will also train the stewards in delegate duties and ensure that they are functional as a union.  However, it makes sense to us that other branches, particularly those near UC schools also be part of the conversation in case there are unexpected local issues that arise for this group of IWW members.  Since these workers work as union staff, they tend to be fairly self-sustaining and their knowledge base is fairly deep, so we don't anticipate this being a shop that requires much "servicing."

If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them our way, and we will try to answer and address them.  We look forward to all California branches welcoming these new FWs and hope this can be an opportunity to build ties and foster collaboration across the state.  In Solidarity, Shannen MaasElias NaserMatt KellardJohn BaranskiLos Angeles General Membership BranchIndustrial Workers of the World323.374.34992936 W 8th St. Suite 304 | Los Angeles, CA 90005
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