Strike by Wobblies at Urban Ore in Berkeley, CA Enters Fifth Week

Workers, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), at Urban Ore in Berkeley, California, have now been out on strike for over five weeks, demanding a wage increase and other improvements on the job.

Pickets continue in front of the facility, as community locals and fellow union members are showing up in support. As The Daily Cal reported, “The union is using fundraised money to pay workers while they strike and stay at the picket line in shifts. Several other unions in its chapter has joined the picket line, where prospective customers are asked to respect the strike and not cross the picket line.”

From the union on social media:

We’ve been holding strong on the picket line for 5 full weeks, and have yet to receive an offer from the owners to meet or bargain. Instead, they’ve spent their time painting big banners announcing a sale, drafting reddit posts and laying off a number of workers (almost all of whom have been picketing). We need your help to keep the pressure up to send the message to Urban Ore that we are not intimidated by their union-busting and aren’t going anywhere until we have a fair contract.

East Bay DSA wrote:

Almost two years have passed since Urban Ore workers unionized…but they still don’t have a contract. Urban Ore workers are tired of watching the boss stall endlessly at the bargaining table while the revenue generated through their labor is used to pay for union busting lawyers and consultants. They are striking until they achieve a fair contract that remedies the boss’s bad faith bargaining and coercive tactics.

From the strike support fund:

For nearly two years, workers at Berkeley’s only remaining salvage yard, Urban Ore, have been bargaining for their first union contract. Urban Ore workers unionized with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) to advocate for living wages and better working conditions in their shop, and to join other workers in a growing labor movement that is fighting for the working class. But over the last two years, the owners of Urban Ore have focused their energy and money on fighting our union rather than bargaining in good faith for a fair contract.

Earlier this month, 93% of voting workers voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike in protest of the owners’ union busting efforts. Starting on Saturday, March 22nd, workers are going on an open-ended unfair labor practice strike that will not end until they can reach a fair collective bargaining agreement with the owners of Urban Ore.

Many Urban Ore workers live paycheck to paycheck, and in order to keep their fight going, they need financial help to mitigate lost wages. 100% of your donation will go to the IWW strike fund to support Urban Ore workers while they fight for a fair contract on the picket line.

Urban Ore has the potential to be a great Berkeley institution – one that reduces waste, gives beautiful old things new life, provides an alternative to big box stores, and inspires local wingnuts. We think it cannot be great until it also recognizes the value of its workers.

The workers at Urban Ore are part of a growing wave of union fights and organizing campaigns led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in the bay area, including workers at City Lights in San Francisco and Peet’s Coffee and Moe’s Books, also in Berkeley. Workers at the Ecology Center’s Curbside Recycling Program have also long been part of the union, taking part in strikes and job actions for several decades.

An anti-capitalist and directly democratic labor union, the IWW was formed in 1905, and advocates for a general strike to seize the means of production. A demonstration has been called in support of the strike at Urban Ore in Berkeley on Saturday, and the union is posting regular updates on Instagram.