<nettime> Kingston Direct Action Working Group under attack: local labour

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bosses denounce us and web page is taken down
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Attached is a report from Harry Pilfold (3hp9@qlink.queensu.ca) about
the recent attacks on K-DAWG.
****************************

To all who care about censorship of the left,

Today the Kingston Direct Action Working Group (K-DAWG) web site was
shut down by the providers (www.angelfire.com). Although the web
master, Don Laroo, was not informed of the reason for this shut
down, it is suspected that someone who wanted to silence the
group complained to the company about articles encouraging "illegal"
activity. ie reports on civil disobediance.

K-DAWG is a group that includes a broad range of Kingston leftists and
social activists. It was formed after the Kingston Day of Action of June
8th, as a way to keep the momentum of Day -- including the now infamous
community initiative to "cross-picket" local banks -- going.

Only three days before the site was shut down, K-DAWG had printed a
response to attacks by the Kingston and District Labour Council, which
had
written a public letter criticizing K-DAWG. (See copy appended to this
e-mail.)

The K-DAWG web site included radical links, a local activist event
calendar, news, articles, a history of direct action in Kingston, and
reports on numerous items of interest to activists.

We are encouraging people to complain about this harassment and
censorship directly to Angelfire. We demand to know why our site was
cancelled, and who it was who complained about its contents.

In the mean time we have set up a replica site (only slightly dated).
It is still under construction, but can be viewed at:

www.angelfire.com/on/themove

Show us you care -- click on our site and we'll let the visitor counter
be an indication of our support.

In the vein of civil disobedience and direct action, we are also
considering making censorship unworkable at Angelfire by issuing bogus
complaints about every angelfire site. This will overload their censorship
procedure by forcing them to check on the validity of complaints BEFORE
just shutting down the sites. A huge amount of labour which they probably
won't be up for. 

Please FORWARD this letter widely. STOP CENSORSHIP of left sites!!

=========================================================================

Response to KDLC attacks.... mysteriously it was on the web only three
days before our site was shut down.

>From cafe003@intcafe.kosone.com Mon Aug 10 16:50:47 1998
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 1998 09:06:26 -0400
From: Kingston Direct Action Working Group <cafe003@intcafe.kosone.com>
To: cafe003@intcafe.kosone.com
Subject: Kingston Direct Action Working Group Response to KDLC release

OPEN LETTER FROM THE KINGSTON DIRECT ACTION WORKING GROUP
TO THE KINGSTON COMMUNITY  -- August 7th, 1998

We are writing in response to an "Information Release" dated July 21,
1998 and sent by the Kingston and District Labour Council. We do not
know to whom this Release was sent, so are appending a copy to our
letter in case you have not read it.

Our group, whose members constitute a diverse cross-section of the
Kingston community, is concerned about the allegations contained in this

Release as well as the process by which decisions have been made and
information circulated.

We ask you to consider the following:

* No one in our group was informed of the KDLC Executive meeting at
which these decisions were made;

* We were not advised, and still have not been, that the KDLC took issue
with our activities;

* We do not know what is meant by the "unauthorized use of the KDLC
logo," "misrepresentation by some individuals" and "other incidents
related to the integrity of the group;"

* Many members of our group had no involvement whatsoever with the
recent Day of Action, which seems to form the basis for at least some of
the KDLC's concerns;

* We do not know what other community groups the KDLC has chosen "not to
support" due to their lack of "integrity, honesty and similar values".

In short, the KDLC has suspended working relations with us and with
other unnamed groups based on serious allegations about which we know
nothing and to which we were given no opportunity to respond and has
made this decision public in a manner that can only be intended to have
other organizations do likewise.

Further, in what must be a related decision, the KDLC has suspended its
strike support committee for the rest of the summer. This may be the
most troubling issue arising from the KDLC Release, as it implies that
an internal disagreement is to be allowed to destroy community
solidarity in supporting those of our members who are fighting right now
for their employment on picket lines.

This is not the time for a rift to develop among those of us who work
for social justice. Even though it can be difficult, disagreements and
differences need to be dealt with directly and honestly, not by innuendo
and implication.

Various members of K-DAWG have devoted a number of years to labour
support in this community.  We have worked with many of you in the past
and would like to think that we will continue to do so. However, the
content of the KDLC Release may make you uncomfortable or reluctant to
be affiliated with us.

We are prepared to engage in an open discussion with the KDLC and any of
you who feel this would be useful. From our point of view, the purpose
of such a discussion would be for the KDLC to clarify and enumerate its
concerns, for us to provide our response and for others to make their
own decisions, based on a full sharing of information.

If you think this is a good idea, please let us and the KDLC know, along
with any suggestions you might have about an appropriate forum and
structure for such discussion.

If you do not have the time to participate in this kind of discussion,
or do not think it is a good idea, we ask that you consider the points
we have outlined above before making any decisions based on the content
of the KDLC Release.


************************************************************************



KINGSTON & DISTRICT LABOUR COUNCIL

     INFORMATION RELEASE - JULY  21, 1998

DUE TO SEVERAL ISSUES REGARDING THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE KDLC
LOGO,  MISREPRESENTATION BY SOME INDIVIDUALS, AND OTHER INCIDENTS
RELATED TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE GROUP "KINGSTON DIRECT ACTION
WORKING GROUP ( KDAWG )", THE EXECUTIVE OF THE KINGSTON & DISTRICT
LABOUR COUNCIL VOTED UNANIMOUSLY LAST NIGHT TO REQUEST THAT THE
KDAWG GROUP IMMEDIATELY REMOVE ALL REFERENCES TO THE KDLC FROM ITS
CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERNET PAGES [At www.angelfire.com/on/themove].

AS A RESULT OF EVENTS ARISING FROM OUR RECENT KINGSTON COMMUNITY
DAY OF ACTION THE LABOUR COUNCIL HAS NOT AND WILL NOT HAVE ANY
CONNECTION WITH THIS GROUP.  FURTHER THE LABOUR COUNCIL CHOOSES
NOT TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY GROUPS THAT DO NOT HAVE THE INTEGRITY,
HONESTY, AND SIMILAR VALUES TO THE KDLC THAT CAN BE PARTNERED TOGETHER
TO THE BENEFIT OF OUR COMMUNITY.

AS WELL THE EXECUTIVE VOTED TO SUSPEND THE STRIKE SUPPORT COMMITTEE
AND ALL EVENTS PLANNED IN THE NAME OF KDLC. THE ACTIVITIES OF THIS
COMMITTEE WILL BECOME THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EXECUTIVE UNTIL A
NEW COMMITTEE CAN BE ESTABLISHED AT THE REGULAR SEPTEMBER MEETING.





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