[mobglob-discuss] Union Buster From Common Ground Flees UTV

[Gordon Flett]

When his employees decided to unionize in late 2002 with CEP Local 2000, 
Joseph Roberts, owner of Common Ground Magazine, flipped out and hired a 
vicious union buster to get rid of the union. More
detailed info about this can be found at
http://commongroundchat.blogspot.com/  and 
http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B1$2003.pdf

At the recent Under The Volcano Festival of Art & Social Change, held in 
Cates Park in North Vancouver, B.C. on Sunday, August 12, a member of the 
Industrial Workers of the World, sitting at their table, noticed Joseph 
speaking to a CAW union member at the Spartacus Books table next to theirs.

Joseph then came over to the IWW table, carefully read their flag, and then 
grabbed one of the Security and Prosperity Partnership leaflets from their 
table, and proceeded to start lecturing them about it.

2 IWWs who were standing walked away in disgust, but the 2 who were sitting 
stayed put. First one of them told Joseph he didn't want to listen to him 
any more as he was a union buster. Joseph said that it was okay to get rid 
of the union as he had a business to run. The other IWW told him, amongst 
other things, that if people knew the truth about him he wouldn't be able to 
show his face at places like this. Joseph quickly bolted at this revelation.

The 2 IWWs who walked away hadn't gotten very far when they saw Joseph 
looking distressed and making a beeline for the exit. They watched him walk 
rapidly to the exit behind the main stage, which was actually quite far 
away, and leave the park.

Later an IWW member took a camera and walked around the park 3 times, hoping 
to get a picture for a leaflet about Joseph and his union busting, but he 
couldn't find him. They thought he may have sneaked back in, but he really 
was gone.

IWW IU 450