Anarcho-Syndicalism and A Living Wage

Posted on January 15, 2009, filed Under Housing & Urban Issues, Worker Struggle. Leave a Comment

By Scott R.

“To each according to their needs.”

WHAT IS A “LIVING WAGE”? It is a minimum quality of life which is due to all people. LW = FOOD + CLOTHING + SHELTER + HEALTH + TRANSPORTATION. It is what you need to get to work/school and be productive. It is something you need for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The workers organizations fight for this as a basic “human right” for all people (workers, families, retirees, etc.). It is a measure of the humanity of a social system.

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San Francisco Transit Fight

Posted on September 4, 2005, filed Under Housing & Urban Issues. Leave a Comment

By Tom Wetzel

Despite heavy police presence at major bus transfer points, at least a couple thousand
passengers rode the buses for free in San Francisco on Thursday, September 1st —
the opening day of a fare strike in North America’s most bus-intensive city. In the days
leading up to September 1st, more than 50 people were actively organizing for the
fare strike, with new groups endorsing the effort in the last week. More than
20,000 leaflets had been distributed and 10,000 stickers were attached to
bus shelters and poles throughout the city — in Spanish and Chinese as well as English.

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The Capitalist City or the Self-managed City

Posted on July 19, 2004, filed Under Housing & Urban Issues. Leave a Comment

by Tom Wetzel

from Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World, edited by David Solnit (City Lights Press, 2004).

Patterns of capital flows have a visible effect on working class communities in the United States. Some communities see closed plants, abandoned stores, boarded-up dwellings, scarce jobs. Such are signs of disinvestment. Capital has moved to some other site in the global production line.

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