#workers solidarity

[makingsenseofwhathappened]

[nando161mando]

#1: “let’s form a union.”

[dailyanarchistposts]

Authors: David Graeber, Nika Dubrovsky Topics: COVID-19, health care

Or more precisely, we are imagining a sane world after the virus, one where, instead of just trying to put things back the way they were, we act on what we’ve learned. For instance, a huge proportion of office work, especially administrative, managerial, marketing, legal, finance, consultancy and the like have shown themselves to be pure bullshit. If they disappeared, it would either make no difference or the world might even be a slightly better place. The proof is that during the crisis, most of them did disappear and the world kept spinning. So imagine for a moment we are sane and don’t just go back to pretending there’s some reason to have all these people bluffing to make us think they work all day but instead got rid of the bullshit jobs. Well, one question would be: what would we do with all the buildings where they used to work? Obviously, those actually useful workers who kept us alive and cared for during the epidemic – doctors, nurses, cleaners, couriers, electricians, farmers – don’t need giant glass buildings to make them feel important. Some can be blown up. This will be good because it means there will be less energy use to keep them heated, cooled and so forth, which will reduce carbon emissions. But surely we wouldn’t want to blow up all of them.

After the French and Russian revolutions, the royal palaces were turned into state museums. That might point to one sane way to use them. But there’s also a crazy way: a return to “normalcy”. The model for this might be what happened after the large-scale deindustrialization of western metropolises, when former factories and warehouses were turned into private art centers, offices and condominiums for the kind of people who worked in them. Many find it hard to imagine this won’t happen again, if there is rapid de-bullshitization of work, but no real change to the financial system, or structures of wealth and power more generally. Empty offices would be bought up by investors, who would turn them into expensive condominiums or private art spaces whose presence will give the real estate additional market value. The only alternative usually put on the table is if the state takes over everything, either in the form of state socialism (which is basically just state-monopoly capitalism) or its right-wing “national-socialist” variant (in whatever updated 21st century form).

In that future, those empty offices not used to house bureaucrats or secret police will be turned into state museums: conservative, elitist institutions whose general ambiance balances somewhere between that of a cemetery and that of a bank. We would like to insist on the possibility – perhaps not the likelihood, but at least the possibility – of sanity. Imagine that the experience of lockdown and economic collapse actually allows us to see the world as it really is and we acknowledge that what’s referred to as “an economy” is simply the way we collectively keep each other alive, provision each other with the things we need and generally take care of one another. Say we also reject the notion of social control.

Prisons, after all, provide food, shelter and even basic medical care. Still, they are not “caring” institutions. What they provide is not care because real care is directed not just at supplying material needs, not even just to allow others to grow and thrive, but also, to maintain or enhance their freedom. Imagine we jettison the idea of production and consumption being the sole purpose of economic life and substitute care and freedom. What would we do with the buildings then?

In a world built around care and solidarity, much of this vast and absurd office space would indeed be blown up, but others could be turned into free city universities, social centers and hotels for those in need of shelter. We could call them ‘Museums of Care’ — precisely because they are spaces that do not celebrate production of any sort but rather provide the space and means for the creation of social relationships and the imagining of entirely new forms of social relations.

[victusinveritas]

[troythecatfish]

[rotenotes]

Anarchism and Marxism (Workers Solidarity No38, 1993)

Thinking about Anarchism  Anarchism and Marxism Part of the pages of the Workers Solidarity Movement http://struggle.ws/wsm.html From Workers Solidarity No38, 1993 MARXISM and Anarchism have been the two major theories of revolutionary socialism since the middle of the last century. Yet since then they have constantly been at loggerheads. In this article Conor McLoughlin examines and compares…

[sparksinthenight]

October marked the month of action. Migrant diary farm workers picketed at Hannaford supermarkets to fight for humane and dignified working conditions. See the photos and sign the pledge to not cross the picket line!

[redbards]

Port workers announce strike against arms deliveries to Israel

Perspektive Online, 9. November 2023

(Translation:)

Workers in several European cities are protesting against the war on Gaza. They are announcing refusals to work against arms deliveries.

On Monday, 6 November, workers from the Barcelona Port Workers' Organization ("Organización de Estibadores Portuarios de Barcelona - OEPB") announced that they would no longer handle ships transporting war material to Israel. In a statement from the OEPB, they write that they have taken this decision "with the sole purpose of protecting any civilian population, regardless of their location, because there is no justification for the sacrifice of civilians". Their aim is to extend the protest to other ports.

In Belgium, there were already protests by workers at the end of October. Transport workers' unions had called on their members to refuse to handle military equipment to be sent to Israel. Workers at various airports are said to have seen weapons being shipped to West Asia. The Belgian government would not say whether weapons would be sent to the region via Belgium.

In Athens, trade unionists from the "PAME" (Militant Workers' Front), the trade union federation of the KKE ("Communist Party of Greece"), protested. The demonstration against the war against the Palestinians began in front of the offices of the Israeli airline El Al and then proceeded through the airport.

The protests have so far remained localized and often come from smaller unions and union federations. Meanwhile, social democratic trade union federations - such as the DGB (German Trade Union Confederation) - are standing by Israel. In a letter, they declare their solidarity with Israel and the umbrella organization of Israeli trade unions, the Zionist "Histadrut".

The Histadrut itself has existed since 1920 and was significantly involved in early land evictions of small Arab farmers.

[the-experimental-writer]

A call to arms against AI

ALERT: US Copyright Office wants to hear what people think about AI and copyright https://theverge.com/2023/8/29/23851126/us-copyright-office-ai-public-comments… "The US Copyright Office is opening a public comment period around AI and copyright issues beginning August 30th as the agency figures out how to approach the subject."

These will help you comment, make sure to read exactly what it is asked and here are the links to post comments. https://regulations.gov/commenton/COLC-2023-0006-0001…… If this one gets stuck then use this one. https://copyright.gov/policy/artificial-intelligence/comment-submission/… Those who support the artists, come voice your opinions.

[nando161mando]

Oh boy....

[taviokapudding]

This shouldn't come off controversial but given all of 2023 and the last 2 months I understand what I will say may piss off some but I gotta say it

Nijisanji shouldn't market their EN livers as idols when only very specific ones get to post covers and originals.

It actually pisses me off that Kyo Kaneko only got 1 original song outside of his debut (which was universally hated because the producer, disrector, or sound mixer chose to autotune the fuck outta everybody to a detriment) and the only other track is a bit of a joke with Enna. And tbh, if I can make a preemptive call, you can tell who is leaving next by how many songs and covers are out. Okay so hear me out.

As part of the audition process, not only are they not allowed to do other work but they can't be throwing their voice around (see Cyyu's audition experience) because of their status as contract workers; this is also why they didn't have to participate in any strikes last year on the technicality that all of them were under assumed yearly contracts that started before the strikes and would only get renewed after the strikes had ended.

But my issue with that, as someone who almost auditioned, is they prefer and encourage singers to join and almost everybody who's left immediately dropped (graduated or terminated) participated in something music related. Kyo releasing today's song as a goodbye when he won't be getting a cut after Feb fills me with r a g e as someone who knows how shit YouTube ad and view revenue + pay for songs can be.

And I cannot stress this enough, at the majority of live events, said livers do a shitton of covers, and that's fine & expected, but when you have the equivalent of a fucking choir in your ranks and the money to buy the rights to songs, why not give them more songs that can be monetized by both the liver & company? YouTube pays but not as much as a multi-platform release. Why are label based livers still doing indie level work with sometimes, having original tracks with worse than indie quality?

Now, Niji isn't the only company making this mistake to not utilize their whole choir consistently

*pauses to stare at VShojo & Holo for 5 seconds in a deeply tired and ○-○ face*

HOWEVER Niji is the only one who actively struggles to monetize their originals. After Tsunami dropped there was a several month period before it was put on Spotify + the producer for the track KIRA revealed he wasn't getting paid and opening donations within the same time span. That coincidence never sat right with me as a long time KIRA vocaloid producer fan- but it makes me wonder how many original songs have been scrapped because of management. Are livers doing mostly covers & not using 3D at live events last minute because somebody isn't getting paid? Because that's what it feels like. Iluna aren't bad singers- the sound mixer probably wasn't paid & said "fuck it" when it came to their debut song's autotuning due to management- let's be real about it.

So yeah in conclusion, stream Distant, because unless she gets the opportunity to say otherwise- I fear and genuinely don't believe Finana or any of the remaining livers are making/made enough money back from their original songs. I hope Kyo gets something, even if it's scraps, because it's unclear if original songs fall under voice pack sales. It will actually devastate me if he isn't paid at all since it's not a full month of streaming.

And hopefully all this public pressure makes investors ask the real questions because I cannot tolerate it anymore. I feel like I'm the only one voicing it right now but this isn't the first time the fans and the general public have wondered why AnyColor Inc doesn't fully commit to the idol shit for Niji EN. Let the livers sing, guarantee they're at least getting 40-50%, and pay all collaborators who participate in original tracks.

Okay I'ma shut up now- no more beating the hurting horse's owner for abuse from me until further notice,

[troythecatfish]

[evelynnocto]

indie devs RISE UP

GAMES MADE BY PEOPLE WHO ARE PAID MORE TO WORK LESS

[nokingsnocrowns]

Workers Revolt

Workers of the World Unite

[kropotkindersurprise]

June 4, 2025 - Dockers at a major French port on Wednesday refused to load a container with machine gun spare parts bound for Israel, saying they “will not take part in the ongoing genocide (in Gaza) orchestrated by the Israeli government,” according to broadcaster Franceinfo.

Dockers at the port of Marseille-Fos have set aside a container containing "spare parts for machine guns," and they "will not load it onto the ship bound for Haifa" in Israel, the Gulf of Fos branch of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) announced in a statement.

The union confirmed that it was alerted by several networks that 19 pallets of Eurolink belts were to be shipped to Israel on Thursday. The Eurolink belts are spare parts for machine guns used by the Israeli army.

"The port of Marseille-Fos must not be used to supply the Israeli army. The dockworkers and port staff of the Gulf of Fos will not take part in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government. We stand for peace among people. We condemn all these armed conflicts that bring death, misery, and the displacement of populations," it added. [link]/[link]

[scoldingdarjeeling]

About the Work Life Drama…

Welp, current scoreboard 🧮: Employer – 1 point, Employee – 2 points. Gut instinct and facts checked out. Now it's all smiles and buddy-buddy energy at the office 😅🤝

Didn’t think I’d be thrown into a political and work-ethic skirmish right out the gate with the new job, but hey—here we are🧘‍♀️

Union or not (but especially if not), it’s a fine day to join one. Power to the people ⚙️✊❤️‍🔥 'Now I can focus on more important matters: like writing with you guys! …and frosted pints (like Mama ‘K’ always says, lol) 🍻