Building workers' power in Roanoke, VA
Originally published on The Virginia Worker, we provided this coverage on the recent picketing by ATU Local 1493 union members and supporters as they fight for living wages and benefits Across the street from a brand new $17.3 million bus terminal stands a row of picketing bus workers of the ATU Local 1493. Above them... Continue Reading →
After months of red tape a union election was finally set for Bridges Starbucks Workers in June, winning their election unanimously 14-0. The following is an interview with a Starbucks partner since their victory. The Virginia Worker: Firstly, congratulations on your sweeping victory with your election, it’s been several months since we last spoke. Last... Continue Reading →
This reportback was written by an anonymous member of the TAP Head Start Workers Committee A year ago, in January 2021, preschool workers at TAP Head Start in Roanoke, VA initiated our first workplace struggle. We were organizing for some basic, decent working conditions (the first two of which were a long time coming, and... Continue Reading →
Companies like Food Lion continue to roll out massive PR campaigns honoring their frontline employees as heroes. Some have even made token concessions concerning worker compensation and safety. However, the flashy advertising and bold headlines mask a treacherous reality for many workers in the retail, healthcare, hospitality, and agricultural industries (among others). “To say the least, I do not believe Food Lion cares about anything more than maintaining a façade. Doing the bare minimum is enough to please the customers and silence the workers.” When crisis response is left to the profit-obsessed CEOs of transnational corporations and the corrupt politicians in Washington, essential workers will continue to disproportionately bear the burden of keeping the country running.
Virginia had no public local police force until 1932, before then, policing was almost totally a private affair. The protection of private property & reinforcing the white supremacist social order were & are the two major functions of police in America. Roanoke has its contribution to that history in the form of the Baldwin-Felts Detective... Continue Reading →
We are continuously told in schools, by the media, and authority figures that police & prisons are here for public safety, but a look at their origins, function and current examples of such shows that is simply not true. Prisons were created in the 1700s as an alternative to corporal punishment. Police were created in... Continue Reading →
Roanoke Jail Solidarity Efforts During Covid-19 Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the so-called U.S. in March 2020, we've outlined a case & made a firm call for decarceration (releasing all incarcerated workers) of all jails, prisons, & detention centers in Virginia, we've co-sponsored a petition pushing 5 *ESSENTIAL* demands for people to survive during... Continue Reading →
We, the undersigned, are demanding that Mayor Lea and the City of Roanoke, Virginia Government, as well as Mayor Foley and the City of Salem, Virginia Government, immediately implement a response to the coronavirus pandemic that places the needs of Roanoke & Salem’s most vulnerable groups first. As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout Virginia and... Continue Reading →
March 17, 2020 COALITION CALLS ON CITY OF ROANOKE TO HALT NEW JAIL ADMISSIONS AND RELEASE ALL PEOPLE INCARCERATED IN ROANOKE FACILITIES IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 VIRUS ROANOKE, VA - We, the undersigned organizations, call on Roanoke City Mayor Sherman Lea and Roanoke City Sheriff Tim Allen to immediately release all of the people currently... Continue Reading →
An incarcerated worker who's been in contact with us regarding the inhumane conditions in Roanoke City Jail for the past year, and has filed a lawsuit against RCJ was transferred to Western Virginia Regional Jail a few months ago. He sent us this letter from WVRJ (written on 2.15.20) highlighting that the inhumane conditions in... Continue Reading →