Hotel and restaurant work

Edward Morrison used to be a packing house worker at Smithfield Foods' plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. His job was to flip 250-pound hog carcasses, and then line them up for the next worker to handle. Smithfield expected Edward to handle 500 of them every hour, working at an inhuman pace.

When Edward injured his knee at work and needed surgery, Smithfield gave him only 30 days to recover. His doctors said he needed four months. After two months, Smithfield got tired of waiting and fired him.

Edward describes his time on Smithfield's line as "a living hell." Today, he is fighting for justice at Smithfield.

You can help. Stand with Edward, Smithfield workers, other working people, and community leaders as they rally for justice at the company's shareholders meeting on August 30.

Here is the translation of an article about the strike at Gate Gourmet which has been published in german on indymedia: http://germany.indymedia.org/2006/01/136552.shtml

Saturday, January 14, the strike counter at the striker's tent counted the one hundredth strike day at Gate Gourmet. The union announced "No reason for celebration, but for protest" on its website (in German: http://www.ngg.net). The people understood the message...

Indymedia features a report about Hilton Workers fight for a better future: "As a delegation of over 30 workers and community members stormed through the employee entrance of the 350-room Hilton hotel in downtown Glendale, hotel security could do little more than grasp their radios and call for backup. Followed by a barrage of hotel managers, curious on-duty employees and about half a dozen security guards, the workers made their way through the winding corridors of the employee area and into the offices of the hotel's executive committee, where the concerned Hilton employees addressed their need for a union and insisted that management not interfere with their efforts to organize."
Full report at: http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/10/825287.shtml

The Guardian has published an interesting piece on the wildcat strike at Heathrow this summer. The strike started after more than 600 workers of Gate Gourmet, the airline caterer to British Airways, have been fired: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,1548800,00.html

"Run ends for Woomera's last escapee"
[Andra Jackson, The Age, October 2, 2004]

In hiding since 2002, Ali anonymously lived and worked in Melbourne. To the staff at a Lygon Street restaurant, "Ali" was the popular kitchen hand who had put in long hours over the past 13 months.
But to his close friends and supporters, Ali was an alias for one of 10 asylum seekers who remained at large after a mass escape from the Woomera detention centre at Easter 2002.

For two-and-a-half years, the 24-year-old Afghan has been able to live openly in the community thanks to an underground network of supporters. He went to rock concerts and attended peace rallies. His favourite haunt was a club in Brunswick, where he would play pool and go dancing.

But as he washed dishes at the restaurant one night recently, Ali's two worlds collided. At 10, eight men in suits threaded their way past diners and staff to the kitchen, where they challenged his identity. Ali denied he was the man they named. The men left and Ali kept on working.