On August 25 – 29, the Roanoke Workers Assembly (RoWA) undertook its first blitz, modeled after the Spartanburg Workers Assembly’s blitz. Due to a lack of availability, we were unable to secure more than 8 shift changes, and were mainly relying upon current RoWA membership. However, due to help from the Southern Workers Assembly (SWA) and the dedication of those few volunteers, we were able to buckle down and secure 55 contacts while handing out 291 fliers!!
The cops were called, gates were closed, management wasted their time arguing with us on the side of the road, but we still see this as a success.
Roanoke has a union density of 1.9% despite lying at the crossroads of various logistical corridors, and being a hub of manufacturing. This is of course, by design, and a story we know all too well in the South. Black workers are oppressed in tyrannical workplaces, kept down by a white supremacy that works in tandem with capital to extract as much profit as possible. Indeed, we report that a vast majority of those that gave us their contact information were Black, affirming the SWA’s strategic focus on Black workers.
We will hold two post blitz meetings, one this Sunday, August 31st at 5pm, and one the following Saturday, September 6th at 3pm. We hope to engender a community that capital has taken from us, so that relationships can be formed and routines of drudgery be broken.
We as the Roanoke Workers Assembly intend to grab hold of the momentum generated by the working class here, who, in a small way, this week turned their heads up from their routines on sight of a few yellow vests on the side of the road. The working class is the sleeping giant of the American political system, and we intend only to help it along to its destiny.
In struggle and solidarity,
The Roanoke Workers’ Assembly
