
The following is from the "infra-reds" maillist at Simon Fraser
University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada:

 While doing my research on forestry unions I came across
 the following in a PPWC newsletter from 1989. 
 
 Direct Action: 14 ways to improve your job


 1. Workers run the world.  Everything would stop without our labour.
 Withdrawing our labour is our weapon, and the right to run things is
 our demand.

 2.  At the same time, most work is a bore.  As it is organized in our
 society, most labour kills the spirit and body of the worker, not to
 mention the mind.  But to simply call for a four-hour day at eight
 hours pay is not enough.  Who will benefit from the automation that
 could realize such a demand?  Who should control technology's
 introduction and integration into the economy?  Potentially, we can.

 3.  Collective action is the source of our strength as workers.  Many
 of the direct actions described below can be done by individuals, but
 they are far more effective when done collectively.  This should not
 be mistaken for unionism.  If collective action and union activity
 are simultaneous, fine.  But collective action is not limited to
 unionism.  Friendships and common grievances on the shop floor are
 enough to carry out most of the actions below.

 4.  Slow down.  Your job is killing you anyway.  When your boss tries
 to speed things up, drag your feet.

 5.  Work to rule.  Follow every regulation and order down to the last
 detail, no matter how stupid they are.  If you get absurd
 instructions, carry them out to the letter to demonstrate how absurd
 they are.

 6.  Ask questions.  Pick apart your boss' instructions with questions
 about everything, even about the most mundane details.  Plead your
 ignorance and make your boss show his or hers.

 7.  Strike through good work.  If, as in a service-industry job, your
 strike would hurt other people more than your boss, strike by giving
 the public better or cheaper service, at your boss' expense
 naturally.  Bus drivers can give cheap or free fares, restaurant
 workers can give heaping servings, hospital nurses and clerks can
 refuse to process billings or charge for services, etc.

 8.  Pass the buck.  Ask your boss to make every decision and every
 judgement on the job.  You can bury your boss under a load of petty
 decisions.

 9.  Don't forget the power of sit-down strikes and wildcat walk-outs.
  Well-timed collective action can win a demand or grievance in
 minutes.

 10.  Practice deliberate inefficiency (aka sabotage.  Caution: This
 is dangerous and sometimes illegal).  If working conditions are
 unsafe or brutal, a single loose bolt or missing part might bring
 things quickly to a halt.

 11.  Report on poor working conditions and fradulent practice.
 Whistle-blowers, especially in consumer industries such as
 restaurants and hospitals, can be very effective.  Call the fire
 marshal if there's a fire hazard.  Call in the feds on labour
 practices, health, and safety issues.  Call the IRS (Revenue Canada)
 on your boss' shady bookkeeping.

 12.  Everybody call in sick on the same day or days.  The sick-in can
 cripple your workplace in a morning.

 13.  Take what is rightfully yours.  If your boss refuses to give you
 breaks or longer lunches, get everybody on the job to take them
 anyway.

 14.  All of this is the day-to-day preparation for more dramatic
 forms of action such as a strike in one industry, the general strike
 of all workers in the economy, and the creation of organs of power
 and workers' self-emancipation (assemblies or councils) to run
 society.  These forms of direct action, though far more organized,
 build from the simple direct actions described above.
 
