By Troy L Garner – Ecology Center Newsletter [Terrain], September 1990
The following is an interview with IWW and Earth First! organizer Judi Bari. It was conducted by phone on August 15, 1990 (nineteen months after the PCB spill). Bari had been active in union organizing for almost two decades and for the past eight years had been working to make alliances between labor and environmentalists in Northern California. In the winter of 1989, Bari was instrumental in organizing a Wobblies local at the Georgia-Pacific (G-P) Mill in Fort Bragg. Two G-P employees were later fired for discussing the union with Bari.
Troy L Garner: Why have unions such as the IWA (International Wood-workers of America), been so inadequate in defending the rights of workers?
Judi Bari: The military suppression of the Wobblies through deportations, lynchings and blacklisting destroyed the (IWW) union. The timber industry called on “real patriotic Americans” to replace these “foreigners and agitators”. You have to understand the context from which these workers came. The unions that came out of this were the conservative business unions. They don’t believe in class struggle and they joined the witch hunts of the 50’s against their own left-wing. There’s a saying that came out in the 50’s about unions, which says that once unions cut off their left wing, they’ve been flying in circles ever since. These unions have acknowledged management rights which give them no say over the point of production, such as the destruction of the forest, which the workers need for their survival. They have confined themselves to wages and benefits which have made them ineffective.
Troy L Garner: How does the IWW offer an alternative?
Judi Bari: The IWW questions the concepts of the wage-slave system, the sale of labor, and seeks a new society that’s not based on work that alienates us from the earth, self, and work. The IWW is a threat to the status quo. It frightens them. The refusal to accept their authority through direct action and the refusal of the wage system really scares them. The other thing is that the IWW is totally democratic.
Troy L Garner: What do other unions think of the IWW?
Judi Bari: They don’t take us seriously or they really don’t think we’re a real union. They say that we’re not legitimate representatives of labor—like they are? They also threaten their own workers: in the Yellow Ribbon campaign, the workers have to take a pledge not to talk to the IWW and Earth First! or they’ll be fired…and some have been fired. They’ve increased their dues, which has caused some problems. They generally ignore us, claim we’re illegitimate or threaten us with red-baiting or green-baiting.
Troy L Garner: Do you see any similarities between systematic repression of the IWW in the past and what’s happening now with Earth First! & IWW organizing?
Judi Bari: I see an exact parallel. Earth First! is the progeny of the IWW. By not operating in their rules through music, humor, sabotage, and direct action we go beyond the system…and this is very frightening to them.
Troy L Garner: Why is a worker-environmental coalition so important?
Judi Bari: The workers are being used as vigilantes—goon squads. There have been eight examples of people being beaten up, two to the point of unconsciousness, during Redwood Summer. So from our standpoint we first need to stop the violence. The other thing is that you know there’s no jobs on a dead planet. The workers are in the most powerful position but they’re also in the most vulnerable position.
Troy L Garner: In confronting the timber industry and the reactionary forces that support them, what are the possibilities of a worker, environmental and alternative life-style coalition forming and actively dealing with this problem?
Judi Bari: It’s a long shot, a long battle, the timber industry is too big and the cultural differences are really big. The IWW has no chance to take over the G-P mill. G-P is so close to cutting everything already that they’ll just leave. There have to be new methods through collective ownership, sustainable forestry, organic farming to fill the gap. I like to see the timber workers as Vietnam veterans, we’ve got to bring them in. The soldiers weren’t bad themselves but just had less choices, like the timber workers. We’ve got to give them room to organize themselves.