We’ve received an incredible outpouring of solidarity during and since the end of out lockout. While we may be able to win back the lost two weeks of wages through court battles down the line, many of our workers may have trouble making rent and paying other vital bills this month with the short paychecks. Any support you can give will go a long way towards helping those folks out and making sure we can stand strong as we continue our campaign.

Click here to donate to IU650’s hardship fund, which will directly benefit our fellow workers who experience financial hardship as a result of GCI’s illegal and immoral lockout.

[Payments to our hardship fund are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.]

Statement from IU650

We are not the first canvassing shop to threaten to Unionize. We aren’t even the first canvassing shop to follow up on that threat with an NLRB election.

But in a canvassing shop when you go down that path you always hear the same threat. The Bosses will close down your shop. Thats illegal, so they whisper it, they tell it through innuendo, they imply it with stories about other offices that tried.

On June 11th IU 650 Seattle was informed that operations were suspended at the office. We were locked out in response to legally protected concerted action and they were, you know, basically closing the shop.

We launched into action. We took legal recourse. We reached out to our friends and supporters asking them to help with our call in campaign. We reminded Grassroots Campaigns that we work in the street. You can’t lock us out of the street. We organize for a living, they cannot expect us not to organize.

We picketed. Wobblies in multiple cities, from Seattle to Boston took direct action on picket lines. Our IU 650 friends in the Deep South stood up for us.

And people called. Eventually they heard us.

The Seattle office of Grassroots Campaigns reopened its doors on June 21st and the members of IU 650 have returned to work. The terms are still under negotiation, many workers have been forced to change campaigns and it has of course provided cover for yet another round of unilateral changes.

But that office is open.

If you are a canvasser. If you organize folks for a living and your boss tells you that you will be punished for organizing with your coworkers. If they subtly imply that canvassing shops get closed down for organizing.

Seattle says they can’t.

Thank you so much for all of your help.