Worker's Defense Committee [link], for the 1st Amendment freedom of association
2014-02-26 issued by the Labor Fightback Network. For more information, please call
973-944-8975 or email conference@laborfightback.org or write Labor
Fightback Network, P.O. Box 187, Flanders, NJ 07836 or visit our
website at [laborfightback.org]. Facebook link : [https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback]
---
Much has been said and written attempting to explain the UAW's 712-626 loss at Volkswagen in Tennessee.
The UAW's International leadership put the blame squarely on public anti-union threats by right-wing politicians. Immediately following the election results, UAW President Bob King informed reporters, "We are obviously deeply disappointed. We're also outraged by the outside interference in this election. Never before in this country have we seen a U.S. senator, a governor and a leader of the legislature threaten the company with incentives and threaten workers with a loss of product. That's outrageous."
At a press conference following the vote announcement, UAW Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Williams echoed his union president in blaming the loss of support for the union on the Republican politicians' statements. He was referring to what happened two days before the election, when Republican State Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Bo Watson and Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick suggested that VW might not receive future state subsidies if the plant unionized.
Then, soon afterwards, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) -- the former mayor of Chattanooga -- who had pledged the previous week not to comment publicly about the ongoing election, waded back into the debate to declare, "I've had conversations today and based on those I am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga."
The media for the most part focused on the role of Tennessee politicians and also out-of-state anti-union advocacy groups funded by big corporations and wealthy individuals.
There is no question that all of these played a key role in the outcome, but it would be a big mistake to characterize that role as decisive. To do so only reinforces the idea that Big Money and their bought-and-paid-for politicians can prevent successful union organizing at will.
There is an additional problem with attributing the UAW's loss solely to the role of Tennessee politicians and outsider groups: It omits consideration of what we believe were crucial factors contributing to the loss.
Among these was the question of whether the workers considered the organizing campaign their own or something from the outside delivered to them on a top-down basis.
Nothing is more important to conducting a successful organizing campaign than establishing a strong organizing committee that is made up of dedicated union activists and is representative of the workforce. That means a committee made up of workers from the various departments and shifts, with the composition reflecting the diversity of that workforce. It also means giving the committee ownership of the campaign, working hand-in-hand with union staff.
Was there such a committee at the VW plant? According to Steve Early, the UAW did recruit some workers to serve on an organizing committee. But did they have any real decision-making authority and were they part of the UAW team that negotiated the 22-page agreement with the company spelling out how the campaign would be conducted and the obligations the UAW pledged to abide by after the anticipated vote making the UAW the workers' bargaining agent?
It is instructive to note the explanation for the UAW's loss provided by Mike Jarvis, a leader of the opposition to the UAW, who pinpointed what he felt was the turning point in the campaign: "Once we got people to realize they [UAW officials and Volkswagen executives] had already negotiated a deal behind their backs -- they didn't get to have a say-so in it -- they went ahead and signed the paperwork that this is going to happen as soon as we win the election." He added: "It just spread, I told two people who told four people who told eight people, like a pyramid kind of thing." (Washington Post Workblog, Feb. 14)
The UAW-VW Partnership -
The UAW, in its quest to show the company that it could be a reliable and responsible "partner," agreed to a whole host of unacceptable demands by the company in its organizing efforts. Labor journalist Steve Early (Counterpunch, Feb. 19) describes the pledges made by the UAW to the auto giant in its "own distinctive charm offensive aimed at winning over VW management." Early writes:
- "The UAW pledged in writing not to visit employees, uninvited, at home, and to keep any written comments about the company 'positive' and 'non-adversarial.' . . .
- "To demonstrate it would be suitably pacific, the UAW disclaimed, in writing, any intention to strike or picket for a first contract in Chattanooga.
- "The UAW committed itself in writing to 'maintaining and where possible enhancing the cost advantages and other competitive advantages that Volkswagen enjoys relative to its competitors in the United States'. . . - "As an additional friendly gesture, the UAW explicitly agreed to curtail what would be the normal scope of contract bargaining by a newly recognized union. If certified, the UAW pledged to support creation of an elected 'works council' composed of both union-represented hourly workers and non-union salaried workers (some of whom campaigned vigorously against unionization). Under this 'innovative model of labor relations,' the UAW promised to 'delegate functions and responsibilities ordinarily belonging to a union' to the council so the latter could engage 'in co-determination with the employer.'"
Added one observer, "This kind of 'union organizing' -- which has nothing to do with genuine, independent trade unionism -- is not what's going to draw workers to the trade union movement or galvanize the labor force in the South into a fighting, organized movement that can push back the attacks by the most ruthless employers imaginable. Giant corporations like Boeing have moved their production facilities to the U.S. South precisely to get rid of the unions -- however bureaucratized they may have become. They are still unions with members -- like those in IAM District 751 in Washington state -- who believe that bosses are adversaries and that the only way workers can win their demands is through struggle, not partnerships."
It would seem that some of the VW workers did not view the UAW favorably because the UAW was not offering them more than they already had but was actually offering them less in order to keep the company "competitive." In These Times staffwriter Mike Elk quotes one of the workers who voted no when he addressed this point:
"What the UAW is offering, we can already do without them," says hourly worker Mike Burton, who created the website for the No 2 UAW campaign. "We were only given one choice [of a union]. When you are only given one choice, it's BS. It would be nice if we had a union that came in here and forthright said, 'Here is what we can offer.'"
"I am not anti-union, I am anti-UAW," Burton continues. "There are great unions out there, and we just weren't offered any of them." (In These Times, Feb. 15)
What seems to have been desired by some of those VW workers who voted against the UAW partnering with management was rather a union that would unite the membership into a fighting force that would then be capable of making improvements in their collective standard of living, not lowering them.
In view of the comments quoted above made by workers to the In These Times writer, it would appear that the workers considered the UAW and the company the two driving forces in the campaign, with the VW workers having little or no voice.
House Calls -
In giving up one of labor organizers' most effective tools -- making uninvited and unscheduled home calls -- the UAW delivered a heavy blow to the workers' prospects of unionizing.
To be sure, the company allowed UAW organizers onto the shop floor to give presentations on the merits of having a union. Moreover, break rooms were made accessible to union organizers. But none of this compensated for the agreement to give up house calling, unless workers expressly requested such calls.
The purpose of house calls is to get to know workers and what their concerns are, evaluating where they are at in terms of having a union, keeping detailed records, clarifying the issues, and clearing up confusions and misunderstandings. More than that, it is to insulate workers against the inevitable anti-union attacks, in this case, more from enemies of the union from within and outside of Tennessee, not so much from the employer.
There is another indispensable component to a house call: a chance to meet family members and encourage them to participate in the discussion and ask questions regarding any matter that might concern them.
If 44 workers among the 1,500 hourly employees had voted "yes" instead of "no," the union would have won at Volkswagen. Having unrestricted home calls (including repeat calls) could well have made the difference.
Community Allies -
At its founding conference in 2012, the Labor Fightback Network urged the formation of labor/community coalitions across the country to fight for a program that advances the interests of the working class majority. We argued that labor cannot "go it alone" if it is to be a viable and powerful movement.
Unfortunately there was no such labor commitment to coalition building in the struggle to unionize Volkswagen in Chattanooga. In These Times staffwriter Mike Elk reported:
"[P]ro-union community activists, who spoke with In These Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of hurting their relationships with the UAW, spoke about difficulties in getting the UAW to help them engage the broader Chattanooga community. Many activists I spoke with during my two trips to Chattanooga said that when they saw the UAW being continually blasted on local talk radio, newspapers and billboards, they wanted to get involved to help build community support.
"However, they say that the UAW was lukewarm in partnering with them. Indeed, when I attended a forum in December organized by Chattanooga for Workers, a community group designed to build local support for the organizing drive, more than 150 community activists attended -- many from different area unions -- but I encountered only three UAW members. Community activists said they had a hard time finding ways to coordinate solidarity efforts with the UAW, whose campaign they saw as insular rather than community-based.
"'There's no way to win in the South without everyone that supports you fighting with you,' said one Chattanooga community organizer, who preferred to remain anonymous. "Because the South is one giant anti-union campaign.'" (Ibid.)
Compare that to the situation in North Carolina where trade unions, labor activists, civil right groups, and other progressive sectors of the population joined together to form a coalition so broad and encompassing that it was able to mount a demonstration of 80,000 to 100,000 in Raleigh on Feb. 8, 2014. That coalition -- spearheaded by the Southern Workers Assembly -- grew out of the "Moral Mondays" protest actions that shook North Carolina's capital throughout 2013 and have now extended to Georgia, South Carolina and other Southern states. Labor and community activists joined together to demand collective bargaining for public employees, the removal to all restrictions to voting rights, quality public education for all, and 11 other demands in its "HKonJ's 14-Point Agenda." [HKonJ stands for Historic Thousands on Jones Street, where the North Carolina legislature sits, coalition.]
The UAW has a lot to learn from this historic experience.
Conclusion -
At its September 2013 convention in Los Angeles, the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution committing itself to an all-out campaign to organize the South. While the defeat at Volkswagen was undeniably a severe setback, it must in no way deter or discourage future organizing efforts. This will be helped -- not impeded -- by drawing the lessons from mistakes made at Chattanooga, while at the same time drawing inspiration and learning from the massive outpouring in Raleigh.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Feb. 27th, 2014 Northbay Uprising Radio News
Tune in to the broadcast [link], Thursdays 4 to 5pm (PST), with news from across Northern California, produced by [NorthbayMDS.Blogspot.com]! Broadcast to the San Pablo bay area courtesy of Ozcat Radio 89.5FM KZCT Vallejo. Join the Community Journalist program, send news & info to [NorthbayMDS@gmail.com]. Know more with the Community Journalist's Notebook [link]!
Celebrate Black History by continuing the struggle against oppression, and for the defense of a dominated nation!
Buy a poster of the solidarity message, $10, at [http://www.amazon.com/Political-Decoration-solidarity-American-Material/dp/B008B6OB2I]
Listen to the message of "Cops Keep Firing", a new track from Sellassie [sellassiefrisco.com], from his latest mixtape "Sins of Your Forefathers" [sellassie.bandcamp.com/album/sins-of-your-forefathers].
ACTION HEADLINES!
from the "San Pablo Bay Ecological Preservation Association":
* Study of 2011 Japan Tsunami debris across Pacific gives insight into Fukushima's radioactive water flow across ocean, 2014-02 [link]
* California Scientists study radioactive water along the coast, 2014-02 [link]
from the "Sovereign San Pablo Bay" think-tank:
* Monopolists convince California State Congress to penalize solar power owners who contribute energy into the electrical grid [link]
* Sovereign energy plan utilizing Solar is opposed by Northeast Utilities System (NU) in Massachusetts, Another Monopolists' effort to stifle Solar Energy technologies [link]
* Wind Farm technology produces energy for 25 years [link]
from "Hands Off Our Homes!"
La Mesha Irizarry, an organizer for Human Rights in San Francisco, recently had faced an unlawful and inhumane eviction process against her home of 17 years. Recently, she writes:
wow. I am happy !
went by my home (that it my mind will always be my home, my dream home, stolen by BoA),
(Occupied by 5 people + a pooch until the Bank repossesses my unit on March 12 at or before 11:59 pm...)
to gather some plants from my ...ex yard
to replant where I live now,
at least those that would fit into a small size apartment
.... some geranium, jade, succulents, cacti,
a bit of the scents and love I put into my plants over the years.
Said good bye to all other vegetation I planted,
the cherry and the pear tree,
the 4 pine trees,
the eucalyptus tree,
the jade and geranium edges I used to manicure,
the butterfly tree,
the many palms,
the bougainvillier,
the lavender bed,
my 3 rose trees,
the oregano bush....
my forest, 17 yrs of my life, started from scratch....
and my son's altar.
Maybe the bank will shave it all down to the ground, who knows.
The great surprise was to meet 2 of the occupiers, Matt & Nick, and a 2 yr. adorable & hyperactive rotweiller named Jacks. And the stray cats I used to feed, Mugwai, Tigre and Cafe, who are now given dog food !! The house was clean, orderly and peaceful, I was SO impressed!! Nice dudes !!!
Some of my pain has lifted. A page almost turned. devoid of despair.
from the "Committee to Defend Workers' Rights":
* Call to Action against workplace abuse of teachers! (Los Angeles) [link]
* Teacher's Victory in the Twin Cities, Minnesota! [link]
from the "Committee to Investigate Civil & Human-Rights Abuse"
* Vallejo City to Privatize the Lakes Water System: Update [link]
* "Richmond Housing Authority Issues" [link]
* Santa Cruz Police terrorize elderly lady selling scarves in downtown [link]
* HUFF Cafe upholds, defends and restores inDIYpendent culture [link]
* "Santa Cruz's anti-Constitutional exclusion zones under investigation by Dr. John Colby, the Gorilla Advocate" [link]
* Non-profit bike charity targeted for disruption by Santa Cruz City for alleged political motivations [link]
* "Targeting the Homeless as a "Prosperity Initiative" in Santa Cruz", 2014-02-08 by Robert Norse: Santa Cruz's Downtown Association has long floated a series of failed bigoted measures to starve out or drive away peaceful panhandlers and unhoused "loiterers" ranging from "Give a Hand Not a Handout" posters in 1989 to the recent red "Imagine" meters--which discourage giving to the visibly needy in favor of those arranging to remove them from sight. In 1994 then Councilmember, now Supervisor, Neal Coonerty pushed for the Sitting Ban, Tabling Ban, Sparechanging Ban, and Performing Ban ordinances--which banned these activities in most times and places on Pacific Avenue--engineering a huge commercial takeover of what once been a shared space. (Even a friendly space before the 1989 earthquake where there were dozens of places to sit on the waist-high brick planters that lined Pacific).
Subsequent laws and police practices have intensified the "no go" zones while attacking homeless camps directly through "clean 'em out" sweeps that simply drive homeless people deeper into the greenbelt or the residential neighborhoods (and also accomplishing its purpose of driving someout of town in despair or disgust. In effect these measures are a massive shameful attack on what is fundamentally a disabled population--though as of yet there has been no legal response to what is probably illegal under federal disability law.
More recently HUFF has received reports of cafe owners not only driving homeless people out and excluding them for "having backpacks" (Coffee Roasting Company, Starbucks, Peet's, Abbey Cafe) but actually threatening them on adjacent sidewalk (Peet's, Cafe Pergolesi).
Even discussing these issues in the tiny amount of time allowed the public at the twice-monthly City Council meetings under Mayor "Rattlesnake" Robinson (who gives little warning) faces increased threat with her upcoming expansion of "decorum" rules this Tuesday ( shortly after 2:30 PM February 11). The "rules" formally eliminate the Oral Communications period historically held at 7 PM in the evening (when it was actually available for most workers--rather than at its current 5 PM "doghouse" time--when most of the audience has either left or not arrived). The highly-restrictive Consent Agenda rules have been set in cement disallowing members of the public the opportunity to speak on the items individually. A provision attacking independent journalists reads "No audio/visual recording devices may be left unattended at the speaker’s lectern or elsewhere in the Council Chambers."
The provision that prompted an 11-year court battle and cost the City $125,000+ in the mock-Nazi salute case has been made worse instead of corrected. It now reads: " ... Any person making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks, or becoming boisterous or otherwise disrupting the Council meeting shall be barred by the presiding officer from further attendance at said meeting unless permission for continued attendance is granted by a majority vote of the Council... Every member of the public and every Councilmember desiring to speak shall address the presiding officer, and upon recognition by the presiding officer, shall confine comments to the question under debate, avoiding all indecorous language and references to personalities ... Upon instructions of the presiding officer it shall be the duty of the sergeant-at-arms or any police officer present to eject from the Council Chambers any person in the audience who uses boisterous or profane language, or language tending to bring the Council or any Councilmember into contempt..."
A new sentence has been added: "Persons who disrupt a Council meeting while in session are subject to arrest and prosecution." In other words, rein in your criticism of the Council, the cops, and bigots in the community who are harassing homeless people either under color of law or otherwise. Don't name names, use tame language, make sure what you're saying is decorous, even if the abusive behavior you're describing (stealing homeless property, arresting people for sleeping or sitting) is not.
from the "Free 'em All" committee:
* Russell Maroon Shoats [link], updated 2014-02-21
* 2014-02-11 California State Solitary Confinement Hearing: Video, Hearings, Testimony & Radio Show [link]
* End the Illegal Retaliation Against Whistleblower John Kiriakou!
Message passed to us via the Sonoma Peace & Justice Center [www.peaceandjusticesonomaco.org]:
Please join us in contacting the Bureau of Prisons Director Charles Samuels and demand an end to the illegal retaliation against John Kiriakou.
CIA torture whistleblower and Sonoma Peace & Justice Center honoree, John Kiriakou, recently resumed speaking with the press and writing his 'Letters from Loretto' after the Bureau of Prisons reneged on their deal to give him 9 months in a halfway house. Unfortunately, prison officials have chosen to respond with brute force: conducting surprise searches of his cell, attempting to remove his writing desk and threatening him with 'diesel therapy. As he explains in his latest letter, "Diesel therapy is when a prisoner is transferred from one prison to another all across the country via prison van, bus or "conair" plane, never staying in any one prison long enough to receive telephone, email, mailing or visitation privileges." This vindictive behavior is not only wrong, but has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. But even though John kept up his end of his deal with the BOP by not speaking to the press or writing "Letters from Loretto," prison officials gave him only 5 months in a halfway house. As soon as John started speaking out again, his mistreatment worsened: prison officials have even threatened to break John's desk off the wall of his cell in a desperate-but-futile bid to shut him up. If we don't act quickly, the BOP could take the next step force John to spend the rest of his sentence on the move and incommunicado under the farcical justification that it was "related to a 'bedspace issue or for [his] own safety."
Contacts for Bureau of Prisons Director Charles Samuels:
[202-307-3250] [www.bop.gov/contact] [320 First St. NW, Washington, DC 20534]
from the liaison committee to the Solano Peace Justice & Freedom coalition [link]:
* Iraq government after restructuring by the USA: "Worse than Saddam Hussein" [link]
from the "Hands Off Venezuela!" committee [link]:
* The anarchists' view on Venezuela and the fascist uprising, from "El Libertario" newspaper of Caracas [link], and from "Nosotros Los Pobres" collective [link], both describing the action from the viewpoint of an ideology that is attacked by all sides in Venezuela!
Human Rights abuse in Anaheim: [link]
from the Committee for the Study of Fascism's World Fascism Watch [link]:
Honduras' fascist dictatorship - an overview from [Politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/americas-most-awkward-allies-103889_Page3.html]: There are few places you’d rather end up than a Honduran prison, where the conditions are miserable and vicious street gangs call the shots. Since the United States controversially recognized Porfirio Lobo, the president who came to power after Honduras’s 2009 coup, Lobo and his successor have unleashed a repressive police state—and yet managed to remain the world’s murder capital. Honduran officials, particularly the military-controlled police, have deep ties to organized crime and drug traffickers, and have been accused of a range of human rights abuses, allegedly targeting political opponents for imprisonment or even assassination. But the United States, which used Honduras as a staging ground for the “dirty wars” of the 1980s and still hosts an air base there, remains the country’s largest donor, with tens of millions of dollars in annual aid, including to the military—no small figure in a place where the entire police budget is just $151 million.
---
Why is the United States clandestine services supporting Hitler supporters and various other fascists? because that's the way it's always been. Read the follwing scholarly book for documentation (not conspiracy theories), "Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party" [scribd.com/doc/193175146/RUSS-BELLANT-Old-Nazis-New-Right-and-the-Republican-Party], written 1988 during the regime of Ronald Reagan, it is an overview of the domestic support fascism got during the early 1980s (and the same occurred throughout the Cold War, and afterwards, under both the Democrat Party and Republican Party...)
---
Ukraine's fascist uprising -
* USA / EU / Israel upholding Neo-Nazi Repression of Ukraine’s Jewish Community [link]
* Jews and Israelis in Ukraine flee Neo-Nazi government attacks, ask Israel for aid [link]
* Photos showing Svoboda, the Neo-Nazi group that is doing the fighting in Ukraine [link]
* Fascist Government in Ukraine: rehabilitating Hitler, defunding public schools and pensions, death-squads for leftist dissenters [link]
ACTION CALENDER!
Libation to Liberation: Community Safety, Defense, Justice and Assembly
Thursday, February 27 2014 @ 6 PM
At the SJSU Engineering Building, Rm. 285-7, in San Jose
Come join families of our community in remembering, celebrating the lives of the lost on Oscar Grant's birthday.
Invitees include: the families of Oscar Grant, Emmett Till, Andy Lopez and Donovan Jackson with performances and libation by: Tyson Amir, Mark Gonzales and Miriam Mosqueda.
Hosted by: Colectivo Justicia de San Jose (formally known as Justice 4 Trayvon Martin San Jose), All African Peoples Revolutionary Party and 50/50 Crew
Sponsored by: SJSU A.S. Cesar Chavez Community Action Center
Reflections on Cuba: Re-patterning for Resilience
Thursday, Feb. 27, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
In late-2013, five Daily Actors had the opportunity to travel to Cuba to participate in the 11th International Permaculture Convergence, attended by 425 participants from 47 countries. Join us for an evening presentation of photos and stories from our journey. We'll explore how Cuba's peak oil experience might inform our own local energy decent future though the lens of agriculture, economy and community organization. We'll also give a snapshot of the global permaculture movement, rooting it in the relevance of our work together right here at home! Presenters: Trathen Heckman, Ryan Johnston, Angelo Silva, John Valenzuela and Erin Axelrod. Co-sponsored by the Petaluma Grange.
FREE
Seed Bank, 199 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma
The Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party and Movement presents...
Reclamation of Earth and Neighborhoods
Suds, Snacks, & Socialism at the Starry Plough
3101 Shattuck Avenue at Prince Street (2 blocks from Ashby BART in Berkeley)
Sally Sommer of the Albany Farm Alliance, and Max Cadji of Phat Beets, a food growing and local governance project in Oakland will tell us about farming in cities.
From our Peace and Freedom Party Platform: “We want an agricultural system that ensures enough food and other farm products to meet human needs, guarantees a high standard of living to farmers and farm workers, protects humans and the ecosystem from environmental degradation and encourages organic farming.” This by implication urges pleasant animal husbandry. It implies an end to an obligatory 24/7 ‘work-day’ by farmers, getting many hands by many nearby neighbor, to farm, living full lives farther from the cities; no worshipped 8hr day.
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center and Friendly Favors present an evening with...
MICKEY HUFF, PETER PHILLIPS and Dr. ANDY LEE ROTH, the principal professors behind Project Censored who teach their students to identify the most significant censored news stories in the US, and to figure out why they were suppressed. [www.projectcensored.org]
Friday, February 28th, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Potluck dinner (6 PM) / Presentation (7 PM)
Owl Room, Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center
55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek
(925) 933-7850
$10 (suggested donation) and a dish to share if attending potluck.
Please make checks payable to Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center
Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright:
America's Pivot to Asia: Destabilizing the Region
Saturday, Mar. 1, time TBA
Col. Wright speaks on her recent trip to Northeast Asia, Jeju Ijalnd, the Article 9 "NoWar" Japanese constitution conference and eight days on the PEACE BOAT traveling to South Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai and Nanjing, China.
Sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County
Newman Auditorium, Santa Rosa Jr. College, Santa Rosa
International Days in Solidarity with the Haitian People
10 years since the 2004 Coup … 210 years since Haiti’s Revolution
* Saturday, March 1st - 5:30 to 8:30 PM - Celebrate Haiti's Revolution
* Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St. (betw. Telegraph & Broadway), Oakland
* Stand with the People of Haiti - Eyewitness reports, drums, film, food, music
Contact Haiti Action Network [haitiaction@sonic.net] [510 847 8657] [www.haitisolidarity.net]
Be an organizer. Spread the word widely. Thinking globally, acting locally! This follows on earlier International Days in Solidarity with Haiti, with observances in many cities on four continents on September 30, 2005, February 7, 2007 and February 29, 2008.
Dear Friend,
We are writing to you, knowing your longstanding support for the cause of the Haitian people. As you know, we are approaching the 10th anniversary of the Feb. 29, 2004 coup d'etat, engineered by the US, France and Canada, which has left a brutal legacy of pain and destruction. This is an occasion that cries out to be seized upon by all who oppose the coup and support the popular movement.
In Oakland, we in the Haiti Action Committee are marking the coup, and the 10 years of repressive coup regimes that have followed it, with a celebration of the 210th year of the heroic 1804 Haitian Revolution. The event is happening on March 1st at Humanist Hall. (Mark your calendar!) Other cities are organizing their own events, as part of the 2014 International Days in Solidarity with the Haitian People.
We also encourage you to forward this email to friends in other cities or countries. Ask them to consider organizing a Haiti support activity where they are -- if possible as part of the International Days from February 23 thru March 8th. It could be a demonstration, vigil, march, public meeting, festival, film showing, rally, candle-light gathering, teach-in, musical or artistic event – to commemorate the Haitian Revolution and protest the continuation of the 2004 coup. Have them contact us. We can supply films or materials if needed.
The actions of US-imposed President Martelly and his ally Jean-Claude Duvalier clearly demonstrate what the 2004 coup was all about. The Haitian people are outraged by the step-by-step return of Duvalierism and its embrace by the fraudulently elected Martelly government — which threatens to bring back the hated military ... which organizes sweeps of market women and midnight raids on the camps of earthquake survivors ... which continues its repressive vendetta against members of the majority Lavalas movement, including a threatened indictment of long-time Lavalas leader and former Senator, Myrlande Liberis-Pavert on trumped-up charges.
We support the Haitian people’s demand that Haiti's sovereignty be respected and that the 2004 coup must be reversed. That would mean:
• Free and fair elections in which all parties can run candidates.
• Putting an end to the repression and the U.S./U.N. military occupation.
• Rebuilding Haiti the way the Haitian 99% want it built – Paying a living wage in the factories instead of sweatshop wages … Restoring farming self-sufficiency so Haiti can feed itself again … Real Haitian control of mineral resources and aid funds … Schools, housing and health care for the people.
Binh Danh on The Crosses: A Protest Against Forgetting
Sunday, March 2, 2:30 - 3:30 PM
At the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, Community Hall, 3491 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette.
Binh Danh will speak about his work: art and science, life and death, past and present, history and immortality. His presentation will include original Daguerreotypes from the Lafayette Library's exhibition (March 21) The Crosses: A Protest Against Forgetting.
Danh will later share the stage with Jeff Heaton (The Crosses of Lafayette), and Fred Norman (Veteran, peace activist) will read from "A Hill of Poems" (his annual readings at the Crosses of Lafayette).
The Crosses: A Protest Against Forgetting exhibition consists of digital prints of
Daguerreotype images by Binh Danh. Over several years, Danh documented
The Crosses of Lafayette. These images preserve moments in the history of the
memorial and our collective memory of war.
Carol Reif, Curator/Exhibition Design/Public Program, [crossesexhibit@gmail.com], [925-286-0964]
Get on the bus to Sacramento!
Education for All! Stop Privatization! Defend Community Colleges!
Monday, March 3, 2014
[www.saveccsf.org/]
The Save CCSF Coalition is organizing for the annual March in March that brings students, faculty and community to the state capital to let our elected officials know that education is a right and should be accessible to all.
If you would like to ride the bus to Sacramento, fill out the attached form: [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_q1tsRv2RvYRfOsLQ6RbNoas5FQaZUAaeAqhDpVrqBc/viewform]
If you would like to donate for the cost of the bus and other Save CCSF actions, please make a check payable to SAVE CCSF and write Bus for March in March in the memo and mail to: Rodger Scot [1249 Hayes St. San Francisco, CA 94117]
Vigil for Peace in Ukraine
Monday, Mar. 3, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Sponsored by the Sonoma Peace and Justice Center
The United States and Russia are once again playing muscle politics - staring each other down across Ukraine. Both countries have long histories of meddling to destabilize governments and both have huge arsenals. Let's not replay 1914. Please bring your signs saying "U.S.A. and Russia: Hands Off Ukraine!"
Courthouse Square, 3rd St. and Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa
Feb. 20th, 2014 Northbay Uprising Radio News
Tune in to the broadcast [link], Thursdays 4 to 5pm (PST), with news from across Northern California, produced by [NorthbayMDS.Blogspot.com]! Broadcast to the San Pablo bay area courtesy of Ozcat Radio 89.5FM KZCT Vallejo. Join the Community Journalist program, send news & info to [NorthbayMDS@gmail.com]. Know more with the Community Journalist's Notebook [link]!
Celebrate Black History by continuing the struggle against oppression, and for the defense of a dominated nation!
From the "If We Knew Our History Series" of the Howard Zinn Education Project...
"Missing from Presidents’ Day: The People They Enslaved" by Clarence Lusane [zinnedproject.org/2014/02/hidden-black-history-of-white-house]
ACTION HEADLINES!
Special Report: Privatization of Water hits Vallejo, and Mt. Shasta!
* Vallejo City to Privatize the Lakes Water System [link]
* Mount Shasta freshwater spring attacked by private corporation [link]
Putting the source of life into the hands of an uncountable private bureaucracy is shameless.
Student Power!
* Sonoma State University President Ruben Armiñana is attacking working-class students by using higher fees [link]
* Congratulations to the Students at UC Berkeley for successfully concluding a 25-hour occupation at the UC Berkeley Blum Center at UC Berkeley, without a single act of Police violence or kidnapping! The Students are protesting UC Regent Richard Blum for his extremism and support for fascist governments worldwide, and for his fascist policies at the University, where he is bankrupting University resources, and using University money to fund private colleges which replace what the public University is losing, by Richard Blum's design. And he is not alone, as the UC Regents are all millionaire investors who see a profit in privatizing public education, a goal which increases the price of higher education while decreasing the quality of the education.
from the Committee to Defend those without homes! [link]:
* Vallejo City's potential anti-Homeless law creates controversy [link]
* Addressing Human Rights Abuse at Santa Cruz National Guard Armory Winter Shelter [link]
* Santa Cruz housing disabled houseless people into a toxic former military building [link]
* Pensacola city in Florida displaces those without homes into life threatening conditions [link]
from the Committee for the Investigation of Civil & Human Rights abuse:
* Santa Cruz attacks another respected street performer: The Great Morgani [link]
* California Attorney General Office stonewalls Justice for Andy Lopez! [link]
* Wearing T-shirt that says "Justice for Andy Lopez" gets you harassed at Santa Rosa mall!
On President's Day, Simon's Santa Rosa Mall security harassed Andy Lopez' parents, Sujey and Rodrigo, for wearing 'Justice for Andy Lopez' t-shirts while eating in the Food Court. Security guards asked them to remove their shirts! You can write to the management and owners and let them know that you do not approve of this infringement of their free speech rights. Please write, email or call them:
* John Best, Area Mall Manager, Santa Rosa Plaza [1071 Santa Rosa Plaza, Santa Rosa, CA 95401-6397] [jbest@simons.com] [707-575-6115]
* David Simon, President & CEO, Simon Property Group [Indianopolis, Indiana 46204] [trobinson@simon.com] [317-636-1600]
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UPDATE, Feb. 20th: Simon's Santa Rosa Plaza has apologized!
You and the Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez asked for an explanation and an apology from Simon's Santa Rosa Plaza for the harassment of the parents of Andy Lopez and others who were eating in the Food Court while wearing Andy Lopez t-shirts.
The Coalition received a response from the Senior Associate General Counsel of Simon's expressing their shock at hearing of the harassment. Thank you to everyone who contacted the Plaza!
"Like you, Santa Rosa Plaza was shocked to learn that individual officers employed by the Plaza's third-party Security subcontractor elected to approach members of the group and ask them to remove the "RIP Andy" or "Justice for Andy Lopez" t-shirts that they were wearing. Santa Rosa is well aware of the Pruneyard decision.....
"Santa Rosa Plaza makes every effort to comply with Pruneyard and has adopted a policy that permits expressive activity in the Center.....We were deeply disappointed that the actions of the security officers did not comply with our policies and procedures and regret that this incident occurred.
".....we would like to extend our condolences to your clients regarding the tragic loss of their son."
[signed] Mark A. Payne, Santa Rosa Plaza
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Andy Lopez "Day of Free Speech" Victory Celebration, Sunday, Feb. 23, 1:30 p.m., at the Courthouse Square, 3rd and Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
This last Monday Feb. 17, 2014, The Lopez Family, were harassed by 'Mall Security Guards' (you may know them as "Paul Blart Wannabes"), over members of The Family wearing Andy Lopez T-Shirts. They were told to turn their shirts inside out, in other words, 'strip in public'. Members who attended the earlier march in Downtown were notified, and upon arrival, noticed that S.R.P.D. had been called. The harassment and subsequent 'Shadowing' of various members of Andy's Youth, as we attempted to exit, has prompted us into Action! We protested to the ownership of the Plaza and they have apologized! Therefore, we will meet at Old Courthouse Square, and walk to the mall, and once inside the Mall, we will display our Andy Lopez T-Shirts in celebration!
Hands Off Our Homes! [link]:
* "Rancho Cordova Couple Turns Tables On Lender’s Foreclosure Attempt" [link]
from the Sovereign San Pablo Bay think-tank [link]:
* Fuel recovery from petroleum-based plastic bags [link]
from the San Pablo Bay Ecological Preservation Association [link]:
* Caltrans is out of step with the times, says independent study. Write a letter today to add your voice for redwoods and wetlands! [link]
from the Committee for the Study of Fascism:
* "San Francisco’s Displacement Crisis: Speculators, Banks, and Developers Seeking to Unlock Value in San Francisco's Rental Housing Are Pouring Money Into the City's Politics. Tenants Are Fighting Back" [link]
from the Committee to Free Them All! [link]:
* Free Lorenzo Johnson! [link]
from the Committee to Defend Workers' Rights! [link]:
* "SEIU 1021 & community launch "Lift Up Oakland" minimum wage campaign" [link]
* "SEIU 1021 launches Unite San Francisco campaign against inequality" [link]
* "Pensions Under the Gun" [link]
* "Why Have So Many Workers Lost Their Unemployment Insurance?" [link]
And where is all that money going?
Solano Peace, Freedom & Justice Coalition announces a new campaign:
* Spring Days of Action to End Drone Killing, Drone Surveillance, Global Militarization [link]
* Read the words of a Freed Anti-Drone Activist: "I Was Tortured, Beaten, Interrogated" [link]
* "Veterans for Peace" endorse the 'World Beyond War' Campaign: VFP National encourages its chapters to become involved with the campaign, World Beyond War [Worldbeyondwar.org]. The campaign is a global nonviolent movement to fully end the institution of war and establish a just and sustainable peace. Let's show our solidarity by signing the Declaration of Peace. You can sign on as an individual [Worldbeyondwar.org/individual].
"Zapatista Week of National and International Solidarity" for the Liberated Communities of Chiapas [link]
Ukraine: Target for USA-backed fascist coup [link]
Venezuela, The Cold War and Market manipulation in the Media, a special report from the "Hands Off Venezuela" committee for the People of Venezuela [link].
ACTION CALENDER!
PACH Fundraiser: Black History Month Film Festival
Thursday, Feb. 20, 7:00 p.m.
A benefit for Police Accountability Clinic & Helpline
"MAAFA 21" - Black genocide in America
Discussion of PACH after the film
$5.00 donation
Arlene Francis Center, 99 6th St., Santa Rosa
Bay Area New Priorities Campaign General Meeting
Thursday, February 20, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
1904 Franklin St @ 19th St, Oakland
We will continue our discussion about the transition from a military economy to an economy that meets human needs.
We will plan for the Global Day Against Military Spending (Monday, April 14)
Please attend or arrange for someone else from your organization to attend.
RSVP: [newprioritiescampaign@gmail.com]
Sonoma County Seed Swap
Thursday, Feb. 20, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
FREE - You don't have to bring seed to participate
Bring seed you saved, extra commercial seed, plants and resources to share. Label your seed variety including date and details on how they were saved. Seed experts will be available to answer questions.
Co-sponsored by Occidental Arts & Ecology Center and West County Community Seed Exchange.
Sebastopol Grange, 6000 Sebastopol Ave. (Hwy. 12), Sebastopol
“Grounds for Dissent” Tour: A Pop-Up GI Coffeehouse
Friday through Saturday, Feb. 21-22: San Francisco, CA
[GICoffeehouseTour.org]
Location: Veterans Community Media Center [1720 Market St., San Francisco CA]
Join the Facebook Event Page and share with others [facebook.com/events/290729591051814]
We invite you to join us in launching “Grounds for Dissent” a Pop-Up GI Coffeehouse.
This Coffeehouse will be ours to build and enjoy for just the one weekend, but hopefully it will also be fertile grounds for us to grow deeper roots to invigorate and celebrate not just the Coffeehouse Movement but our common concerns, larger connections and commitments.
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FRIDAY, FEB 21, 6pm: GRAND OPENING!
FOOD, Beverage, Conviviality. With a Queer Anti-militarist Poster Exhibit: War is Trauma!
6 pm: West Coast GI Coffeehouse tour presents, Join Coffee Strong, Under the Hood, and Clearing Barrel to hear about their work supporting soldiers, military communities, and GI resistance in Washington, Texas, and Germany
7-10 pm: DISSENTERS BALL!! DANCING to the tunes of DJ Samuelroy, Performance by Kallisto, Poster Exhibition–Food, drinks, meet and mingle with members of the GI coffeehouse tour
The exhibition of poster art includes work from Tyrone Boucher, "Queers Demand" and the "War is Trauma" portfolio from Just Seeds, in addition to other work highlighting the recent history of local Queer Military Resistance!
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SATURDAY, FEB 22, 10am: Cafe Opens with a series of events throughout the day, starting with,
* 11am: Youth-led theater of the oppressed workshop. Join BAY PEACE (Better Alternatives for Youth) as they help us imagine a world without militarism. Bay PEACE will lead us through a theater workshop exploring the power of telling our own stories in counter-recruitment efforts.
* 1:30-3pm: Warrior Writers Workshop [WarriorWriters.org]: Warrior Writers is a project that brings veterans together to write and make art about our experiences in war and in the military. By recording our experience, we engage in the transformational process of art-making and we record our personal truths. Aaron Hughes, an Iraq veteran and Warrior Writers facilitator, will lead attendees through a series of group discussions, writing prompts and exercises that facilitates creative outlets and a supportive community.
* 4-5:30: Join us for an afternoon workshop with Critical Resistance on community organizing as a response to militarized policing. [CriticalResistance.org]!
* 6pm: Facilitated Panel Discussion with the Coffeehouse Tour Members: “Enrooting Spaces of Resistance”
* 7-10 pm: Performances and Open Mic
Come learn about the history of the GI coffeehouse and GI resistance movement! Join us for a presentation by GI coffeehouse leaders from Texas, Washington, and Germany as we discuss the importance of creating spaces of resistance in military communities. Following the presentation, we will invite guests to participate in small group discussions around strategies for maintaining and growing spaces of resistance within the military and across our movements. The discussion will be followed by an Open Mic featuring performances by Eddie Falcon (Forty Thieves), Keady Phelan & More!
* And Support for Veterans: Need help with your VA disability claim? Want some advice about filing for a Discharge Upgrade?Staff Attorney, Becca Vb, from the Swords to Plowshares Legal Department will be available throughout the day Saturday for veterans who want advice about filing claims for VA disability benefits and/or submitting applications for Discharge Upgrades. If you want advice about your specific claim, bringing in any paperwork you have relevant to your claim will allow you to get more thorough advice. Swords to Plowshares' Legal Department has been providing assistance to veterans with VA claims for decades, and is one of the national experts on Discharge Upgrades. Advice provided at the Coffeehouse will be a one-time consultation only.
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Coffee Strong, The Clearing Barrel [theclearingbarrel.blogspot.com], and Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach Center [underthehoodcafe.org] are GI coffeehouses located next to major military installations in Washington State, Germany and Texas. We provide service members, veterans and their families’ safe places for healing, to exchange unfiltered information, and to speak about our concerns and experiences.
We’re joining together for The GI Coffeehouse Tour starting on February 13th in San Diego, CA and ending in Everett, WA on March 2nd. Help us support the rights of service members, veterans and military families while challenging war and militarism by supporting the GI Coffeehouse Tour. Join us on a tour stop in California, Oregon or Washington, make a tax-deductible donation online today, or learn more about the work of the coffeehouses including our connection to Vietnam-era GI coffeehouses.
"VFP Supports GI Coffeehouse Tour on West Coast", 2014-02-07 message from "veterans for Peace" [http://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2014/02/07/vfp-supports-gi-coffeehouse-tour-west-coast]: Veterans For Peace is co-sponsoring a GI Coffeehouse Tour on the west coast, beginning in San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 13 and ending in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, March 1.
The tour will feature the work of Under The Hood GI Cafe in Killeen, Texas (Fort Hood), Coffee Strong in Lakewood, Washington (Joint Base Lewis-McChord), and The Clearing Barrel GI Bar and Coffeehouse in Kaiserslautern, Germany, center for U.S. military installations in Europe with the Ramstein Airbase and Landstuhl Medical Center.
The purpose of the tour is to remind people about the importance of ongoing GI outreach efforts and to raise much needed funds for the three GI cafes/outreach centers.
The tour will feature speakers from all three GI Coffehouses. Coffee Strong will be represented by its co-coordinator, Alex Bacon, a Coast Guard veteran, and other volunteers. Under The Hood will be represented by Iraq veteran Malachi Muncy, its manager, by Ryan Holleran, recently discharged from the Army at Ft. Hood, and by Lori Hurlebaus, former manager and president of the Board of Directors of Under The Hood. The Clearing Barrel will be represented by German peace activist Meike Capps-Schubert, flying in to California all the way from Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Many VFP chapters are hosting the tour and organizing local events. VFP Vice President Gerry Condon, who serves on the Board of Directors of Under The Hood, will also be traveling with the tour. National VFP has contributed $500 to help cover upfront tour expenses. VFP chapters and members are also encouraged to help out if they can.
For more information about the tour, the three GI Coffeehouses, and how you can help, go to the GI Coffeehouse Tour website.
January Gathering of West County Community Seed Exchange
Saturday, Feb. 22, 9:00 a.m. to noon
9 - 10:30 - Work in the Seed Garden
9 - 11 - Seed Library OPEN
11 - 12 - Class: Hands On- Cleaning our Seed Garden Seed-Help clean up our amazing harvest of corn, squash, beets, wheat and more!
You are invited to get FREE SEED from the 200+ varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs, and grains in our Seed Library. All seeds were grown out in our Seed Garden or in other parts of Sonoma County. We hope you will grow some of this stock out to seed and return it to us next year. If you are already a seed saver, please consider donating some of your seeds to us.
St. Stephen's Church, 500 Robinson Rd, Sebastopol
Celebrate Black History Month and the Legacy of the Black Panther Party!
Saturday, February 22, 2014
7:00pm until 11:00pm
at the Bobby Bowen Community Progressive Center [1021 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond, CA 94801]
[https://www.facebook.com/events/1420290021546342/]
Join us for an evening of fun, music, poetry, food, education and memorable quest speakers...
Celebrating the legacy of the Black Panther Party, Huey Newton's Birthday, The Black Riders Liberation Party, Bobby Bowens legacy, and supporting Political Prisoner Jalil Muntaqim's Struggle for Freedom!
"All Power to the People"!
Sponsored by the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party & Bay Area CA Solidarity for Jalil Muntaqim.
4th Month Anniversary of Andy's Killing - Potluck
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Remember Andy at a community potluck and march around the block.
Andy Lopez Memorial Park, Moorland Ave., Santa Rosa
Move To Amend Build Democracy, End Corporate Rule
2014 Sonoma County Ballot Initiative Campaign Volunteer Training
Saturday, Feb. 22, 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Please join Move to Amend Sonoma County by helping us gather signatures for our 2014 Sonoma County “Build Democracy, End Corporate Rule” ballot initiative. We need to gather 25,000 signatures by May 12 to qualify for the ballot.
The Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County, 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa
A Tribute to the Hidden Roots of Black Music
Saturday, Feb. 22, 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce celebrates Black History Month with a musical extravaganza, wine tasting, soul food, and dancing.
Members $25 and non-members $35 (Save $10 if tickets are ordered by Feb. 8th at www.nbbcc.org)
Finley Center, 2060 West College Ave., Santa Rosa
Public Education: Civil Rights Battleground From Segregation to Privatization
Saturday, February 22, 7:00pm
Door donation $3-5
Home-cooked Southern Dinner served 6:00pm for a $12 donation
New Valencia Hall: 747 Polk St., San Francisco (at Ellis, near Civic Center BART and on #19, #31 & #38 Muni bus lines) Wheelchair accessible, on-site childcare available
For more info: [415-864-1278], [BAradicalwomen@earthlink.net] or [baFSP@earthlink.net]
Recently, Obama addressed the lack of equal access to education for poor students and students of color. But the policy of privatizing community colleges, like City College of San Francisco, would re-segregate schools. What can be done to provide quality, affordable education for all, which Blacks have fought for since the days of slavery?
* Video: The Little Rock Nine—1961 Black high school students’ fight for integration
Speakers:
* Duciana Thomas, Women’s studies major & Mills College graduate, in Radical Women’s Comrades of Color Caucus.
* Allen-Deon Saunders, City College SF student seeking accessible education for all and organizing to save the college's Performing Arts Center
* Bob Price, Save City College SF Coalition co-founder and Chemistry professor who helps students of color majoring in Math & Science
Sponsored by Bay Area Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party
Free Antione Thomas!
People's Community Medics co-founder Sharena is hosting an event to get support for her brother, Antione, who is serving 65 years in prison. The People's Community Medics can be reached at [510-239-7720] [PeoplesCommunityMedics@gmail.com] [www.PeoplesCommunityMedics.org]
Sunday February 23
4pm
at the Quilombo Social Center (in The Holdout) [2313 San Pablo Ave, Oakland]
[https://www.facebook.com/events/793505720662807].
MORE INFO: [www.freeantionethomas.wordpress.com]
Come show some love and support for Antione Thomas who was brutalized by pigs and is now serving 65 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit
Antione was stopped while driving with a friend and was subject to a cavity search. He filed a complaint against the pigs who did it and two years later he was convicted of a robbery he didn't commit. There is evidence to exonerate him and he needs our support to be able to fight this case.
There will be a screening and some folks sharing their stories
Come donate and show support and enjoy food, art, discussion and hear more about how you can support him and his family.
ANTIONE'S CASE: In 2007 a young black man named Antione and a friend were stopped by police and subject to a public cavity search in which they were brutalized and humiliated. Antione later filed a complaint against the officers. In 2009 he was then targeted by police and arrested for a robbery he did not commit. During the trial the judge did not allow witnesses that would have provided exculpatory testimony on his behalf. He was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 65 years in prison. Your funds and support are needed to help Antione and his family as they try to appeal his case.
Is Orange The New Black?
A Conversation About California Women's Prisons
Sunday, February 23, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, Oakland
Justice Now and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners proudly present a community event to discuss California women's prisons with Piper Kerman, activist and author of Orange Is The New Black.
Piper will be joined by an esteemed panel of activists and organizers in the fight against imprisonment in California, including:
* Misty Rojo (Justice Now and CCWP)
* Theresa Martinez (Justice Now)
* Janetta Johnson (Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project - TGIJP)
* Samantha Rogers (CCWP)
The event will be facilitated by Shanelle Matthews (ACLU of Northern California)
Tickets on sliding scale from $20-$100. No one turned away through lack of funds.
FREE childcare available, provided by the Bay Area Child Care Collective, please email pipereventCA2014 [at] gmail.com to confirm a space.
Any questions or offers of support, please email pipereventCA2014 [at] gmail.com or call CCWP on (415) 255-7036 ext. 4
Wheelchair Access at 411 28th Street.
[facebook.com/events/list#!/events/205481079654211]
JOIN THE PROTEST AT BEALE AFB
For over three years activists have been gathering monthly at Beale AFB, near Marysville, CA, to protest Drone Warfare. This month Col. (ret.) Ann Wright joins us to protest and will be speaking at several local events. [occupybealeafb.org] [facebook.com/events/1408009002784009]
Monday, February 24th
Protest/Vigil: 3-5 p.m. at Wheatland Gate,(Intersection of So. Beale Rd.and Ostrom Rd.)
5:30 p.m. Encampment at Main Gate (N. Beale Rd.)
Teach-in on Jeju Island, S. Korea: Resistance to Military Base
Bring Pot luck dish to share
Alternatives to camping available
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Tuesday, February 25th
Vigil/Protest: 6-9 a.m. at Wheatland Gate(S. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.)
Hear from Col. (ret.)Ann Wright!
Noon: Yuba City College, Room 716, Math & Science Bldg.
2:30-3:45 p.m. Eating Well Cafe, 1908 North Beale Rd., Linda
6-8 p.m. Brick Coffee House, 316 D St., Marysville
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Wednesday, February 26th in GRASS VALLEY
7-9 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains
246 S. Church Street, Grass Valley
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Thursday, February 27th in SACRAMENTO
7 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 2100 J St., Sacramento
Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel and former U.S. State Department official who had spent 19 years in the military and 16 years in diplomatic service. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
Known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War, Col. Wright resigned her diplomatic position in 2003 in protest of Bush’s pending attack on Iraq, U.S. led sanctions and military action destroying the country and the lives and livelihood of millions.Wright was a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the Gaza flotilla. She will be part of a global presence in Palestine's Gaza Strip for International Women’s Day 2014.
Col. Wright has been engaged in drone resistance in Pakistan, Afghanistan,Yemen, and Gaza. In 2013,she spoke on U.S. foreign policy issues in Turkey, Egypt, Ireland, Belgium, China, Japan and Korea.Ann Wright is just back from London where she gave an award to Chelsea Manning at Oxford and met with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy.
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Anti-Drone service of repentance at the main Beale AFB gate, March 5, 6:30am.
COL. (Ret.) ANN WRIGHT CALIFORNIA TOUR 2/22-3/2/14
Endless War, the Pivot to Asia, and Drone Warfare
* Saturday, February 22nd, SAN FRANCISCO (Talk Subject: Pivot to Asia), 1:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco [1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco 94109]
* Monday, February 24th BEALE AFB (Protest/Vigil):
- 3-5 p.m. at Wheatland Gate, (Intersection of So. Beale Rd.and Ostrom Rd.)
- Encampment 5:30 p.m. at Main Gate (N. Beale Rd.), with Teach-in on Jeju Island, titled "S. Korea: Resistance to Military Base". Bring Pot luck dish to share. Alternatives to camping available
* Tuesday, February 25th Beale (Vigil/Protest):
- 6-9 a.m. at Wheatland Gate (S. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.) [www.occupybealeafb.org]
- Noon: Yuba City College, Room 716, Math & Science Bldg.
- 2:30-3:45 p.m. at the Eating Well Cafe, [1908 North Beale Rd., Linda]
- 6-8 p.m. Talk/Discussion, Brick Coffee House, 316 D St., Marysville
* Wednesday, February 26th in GRASS VALLEY, 7-9 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains [246 S. Church Street, Grass Valley]
* Thursday, February 27th Talk in SACRAMENTO - Robotic Killing: U.S. and Israeli Drones attacks against civilians, 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 2100 J St., Sacramento
* Saturday, March 1st Talk in SANTA ROSA (Pivot to Asia): 7 p.m. Santa Rosa Junior College, Newman Auditorium, Emeritus Hall
* Sunday, March 2nd Talk in BERKELEY (Pivot to Asia): 2:30 p.m. Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists [1924 Cedar at Bonita, Berkeley, CA]
Free Trade’s Newest Threat –
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and What We Can Do to Stop It
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
At the Ygnacio Valley Library [2661 Oak Grove Road, Walnut Creek, CA, 94598]
Contact [415-255-7296] [carleen@globalexchange.org]
[www.globalexchange.org/events/gx]
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is poised to become the largest Free Trade Agreement in U.S. history, with profound negative consequences for social, environmental and economic justice, as well as basic human rights throughout the world. We don’t know much about the TPP, but the few things we do know aren’t making us feel any better about the whole thing: giving corporations more power, trampling labor rights, and so much more.
Learn what it’s all about, who’s behind it and how we can work together for Fair Trade, justice and environmental sustainability.
Speaker: Carleen Pickard, Global Exchange
RACE MATTERS: Putting Race on the Table Speaker Series
Tuesday, February 25, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
At the TILDEN AUDITORIUM (LCI, Leadership, Curriculum & Instruction), located at 3752 Enos Avenue, Oakland, CA 94619 (enter the gate for free parking)
Backward Mapping to the Headline: "Oakland's African American student outstanding achievement in mathematics"! What would it take to build schools and communities that make the headline real?
Speaker: Ruth Cossey, Mills College.
Race Matters is a FREE speaker series for teachers, principals, students, parents, Board Members, and Community to engage in thoughtful dialogue about race and equity in service of improving teaching and learning.
Sponsored by Oakland Unified School District.
RSVP: [talibahawele.makeba@ousd.k12.ca.us] [510-907-0669]
Give Name, District, School, Grade, Community Status, e-mail, phone number
AMERICAN UPRISING: The Untold Story of America's Largest SLAVE REVOLT
Tuesday, February 25 at 7pm
Revolution Books [2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704]
Author, Daniel Rasmussen, discusses his New York Times bestseller, American Uprising, a riveting account of the largest act of armed resistance against slavery in the history of the United States-and one of the defining moments in the history of New Orleans and the nation.
"Breathtaking... Rasmussen's scholarly detective work reveals a fascinating narrative of slavery and resistance." - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Solidarity with KOREAN GENERAL STRIKE!
Hands Off Korean Workers!
WHERE: Korean Consulate, San Francisco [3500 Clay St., at Laurel St.]
WHEN: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 4:00 PM
For more information and to endorse: Call [415-282-1908] [www.transportworkers.org]
Hundreds of thousands of Korean workers are striking Feb. 25 to defend the basic right to organize unions and their right to strike. In December, members of the Korean Railway Workers Union organized a 22-day strike against KORAIL moves to privatize the state-owned company. The right-wing government of Park Geun-hye sent a battalion of some 5,000 police to surround headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and arrested 138 unionists. Rail workers were fired and their union fined millions of dollars with charges of “obstructing business”. The 5,000,000 member International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) is supporting the actions of the Korean workers and the San Francisco Labor Council has endorsed and will mobilize for this united front demonstration.
We, and workers around the world, stand in solidarity with the Korean workers.
We demand:
1) Free all jailed Korean workers
2) No reprisals, rehire fired workers, drop the charges and the fines
3) Stop government repression against unions
4) Defend the right to strike and stop privatization
JOIN THE SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATION!
Bring your union banners
Endorsed by: Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, San Francisco Labor Council, Inlandboatmen's Union- SF Bay Area, United Public Workers for Action, Workers World, Socialist Organizer, ANSWER-SF Bay Area, Communist Workers Group, Inter-Union Organizing Committee at CDPH, Labor Video Project, International Bolshevik Tendency, Facts for Working People, International Socialist Organization, International Action Center.
Big Oil Trains: Derailing Community Safety
A forum about increased rail accidents, refinery dangers, and climate change.
Wednesday, Feb. 26th at 6:30 PM
Veterans War Memorial Building, 930 Ward Street, Martinez (@ the corner of Ward and Court Streets)
This is one in a series of panels that you must go to if your are concerned about the safety of our community. Hear what it was like with the derailment and explosions in Quebec.
How will refinery expansions and transportation of crude oil by rail affect YOUR town?
A panel of experts and activists will inform residents of Benicia, Martinez, Rodeo, Crockett and Port Costa of Big Oil’s plans, both local and global.
Please join our panelists for presentations and Q & A:
* Marilaine Savard [facebook.com/MarilaineSavard]: spokesperson for a citizens’ group in the region of Lac-Mégantic, Québec. Last year, a string of exploding petroleum rail cars destroyed the center of the town and claimed 47 lives.
* Antonia Juhasz [antoniajuhasz.net/article.php?id=864]: oil industry analyst, journalist, and author of “The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry and What We Must do to Stop It” and “Black Tide: the Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill”.
* Diane Bailey [switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dbailey], senior scientist at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council [nrdc.org]).
* Marilyn Bardet [youtube.com/watch?v=EgpCKeWaLhk]: watchdog activist for the Valero refinery and founding member of Benicia’s Good Neighbor Steering Committee [beniciatrees.org/about-us/good-neighbor-steering-committee].
* Nancy Rieser [youtube.com/watch?v=6J4HEpU8EQU]: spokesperson, Crockett-Rodeo-Hercules Working Group, challenging Phillips 66 on its Propane Expansion Project.
* Kalli Graham: spokesperson, Pittsburg Defense Council, fighting the proposed WesPac oil terminal.
Sponsored by:
In partnership with:
Sierra Club, 350 Bay Area, Communities for a Better Environment, Richmond Progressive Alliance, ForestEthics, Pittsburg Defense Council, Pittsburg Ethics Council, Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, and the Crockett-Rodeo-Hercules Working Group.
For those in other towns, we have related forums in Pittsburg and Richmond! See [link]
Hoodies Up! 2 years since the murder of Trayvon Martin -
A Day of Outrage & Remembrance
Wednesday, February 26: 4pm at Fruitvale Bart Plaza in Oakland
We Say No More!
The killing of Trayvon Martin and 2.4 million in prison make clear that there is a whole generation of Black and Latino youth who have been marked and treated as a "generation of suspects" to be murdered and jailed. This is not an issue for Black people alone but for all who care about justice; it is not a random tragedy.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
"Solidarity Rally for South Korean Rail Workers, San Francisco"
2014-02-25 text and video by Richard Chen [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14r_hOaD6dM]:
On February 25th, 2014, a United Front rally was held in front of the Korean Consulate in San Francisco in defense of the Korean Rail Workers Union (KRWU).
This is the third demonstration in the last four months. At the last rally (January 17, 2014), the Korean Consulate, working with the US State Department, attempted to disrupt the rally by organizing right-wing Koreans in a counterdemonstration. The right wingers also attempted to disrupt this rally, but this time they were outnumbered and drowned out by union supporters and a contingent of drummers and youth from the Korean and Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
The KRWU waged the longest rail strike in South Korean history in December 2013 against a privatization drive by the right-wing government of Park Geun-hye. The Park government declared the strike illegal, put out arrest warrants for the union leadership and forced them into hiding.
On December 22nd, 2013, the Park government then assaulted the offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) with 5,000 police, who used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters. 130 unionists were arrested and the government succeeded in breaking the strike. As of this writing, the government intends to continue privatizing the railways.
The demonstration coincides with a "People's Strike" organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on the same day. The KRWU and other Korean unions went on a one-day strike, and a mass rally drew 100,000.
Organizations which endorsed the rally:
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee - San Francisco Labor Council - Sacramento Labor Council - Inlandboatmen's Union/ILWU SF Bay Area - United Public Workers for Action - Workers World - Socialist Organizer - ANSWER Coalition SF Bay Area - Communist Workers Group - International Bolshevik Tendency - Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK) - Inter-Union Organizing Committee at CDPH - Labor Video Project - Facts for Working People - International Action Center - International Socialist Organization - Social Justice Committee, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
On February 25th, 2014, a United Front rally was held in front of the Korean Consulate in San Francisco in defense of the Korean Rail Workers Union (KRWU).
This is the third demonstration in the last four months. At the last rally (January 17, 2014), the Korean Consulate, working with the US State Department, attempted to disrupt the rally by organizing right-wing Koreans in a counterdemonstration. The right wingers also attempted to disrupt this rally, but this time they were outnumbered and drowned out by union supporters and a contingent of drummers and youth from the Korean and Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
The KRWU waged the longest rail strike in South Korean history in December 2013 against a privatization drive by the right-wing government of Park Geun-hye. The Park government declared the strike illegal, put out arrest warrants for the union leadership and forced them into hiding.
On December 22nd, 2013, the Park government then assaulted the offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) with 5,000 police, who used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters. 130 unionists were arrested and the government succeeded in breaking the strike. As of this writing, the government intends to continue privatizing the railways.
The demonstration coincides with a "People's Strike" organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on the same day. The KRWU and other Korean unions went on a one-day strike, and a mass rally drew 100,000.
Organizations which endorsed the rally:
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee - San Francisco Labor Council - Sacramento Labor Council - Inlandboatmen's Union/ILWU SF Bay Area - United Public Workers for Action - Workers World - Socialist Organizer - ANSWER Coalition SF Bay Area - Communist Workers Group - International Bolshevik Tendency - Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK) - Inter-Union Organizing Committee at CDPH - Labor Video Project - Facts for Working People - International Action Center - International Socialist Organization - Social Justice Committee, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
San Francisco court workers harrassed for union affiliation
"Dressing for Excess: San Francisco Court cracks down on dress code 'enforcement'"
2014-02-25 from "1021 NewsWire":
Back in August 2007, when Local 1021 was barely six months old, we held our first local-wide worksite action at the Superior Court of Sonoma County, where court workers were suddenly being disciplined and harassed for wearing purple to work. Not just SEIU purple and buttons displaying union pride: any purple. We rallied at the courthouse, got management to the table, and in the end stopped the harassment and disciplinary actions.
Flash forward to February 20, 2014 (last Thursday), when San Francisco court workers rallied outside the Civic Center courthouse to protest management's arbitrary new 'enforcement' of its dress code. While professing professionalism, supervisors seem more intent on exercising new forms of hostility, including sexual harassment. (Almost exactly two years ago, this same court illegally forbid the wearing of union items and was rebuffed.)
A couple weeks before the December holidays, the court's executive officer, Michael Yuen, sent an email to all employees saying that dress standards at the court had become “inappropriate,” and that according to court policy “[e]mployees must maintain a professional, business-like appearance…”
SEIU 1021 chapter officers quickly called for a “meet and confer” with management -- as required by their union contract -- to discuss the sudden new enforcement of an 18-year old policy.
“We are concerned not only with what the court considers ‘appropriate,’ but that there be a clear written policy so people know how to adhere to it and that there be a clear and consistent application of the policy and how violations are dealt with,” said Diane Williams, president of the San Francisco court chapter and a clerk at the Hall of Justice.
Management refused to meet, and the union filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the Public Employee Relations Board.
Crossing the line -
Court supervisors began enforcing the code with predictable inconsistency and arbitrariness. Individual supervisors made subjective decisions on what was appropriate and began sending workers home without pay. Union activists and people out of favor with particular supervisors were singled out, while others wearing nearly identical outfits were left alone.
Such 'enforcement' has opened the door to sexual harassment charges against the department. Jean Tualla (pictured), a courtroom clerk in the Criminal Dept. at the Hall of Justice, told the courthouse rally what had happened to her just weeks earlier, on Jan. 30.
After having her outfit approved by a female supervisor one day, a few days later she received an email summons that suggested she bring a shop steward. When they arrived -- Tualla was wearing the same outfit -- they were met by the same female supervisor and a male supervisor.
They gave her a "corrective action" memo to sign acknowledging she had been sent home for inappropriate attire on three previous days. When Tualla signed it and added a written statement that she didn't agree with the findings, the male supervisor asked her to stand up so he could see what she was wearing. Then he told her to turn around, as if he couldn't tell if her outfit was appropriate from the front. He told her it wouldn't do and sent her home without pay.
San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who attended the rally to support the workers -- and is also an attorney -- was stunned by Tualla’s story. “Basic sexual harassment law says you can’t do that,” he said. “We need to make sure the supervisor who did this is held accountable.”
2014-02-25 from "1021 NewsWire":
Back in August 2007, when Local 1021 was barely six months old, we held our first local-wide worksite action at the Superior Court of Sonoma County, where court workers were suddenly being disciplined and harassed for wearing purple to work. Not just SEIU purple and buttons displaying union pride: any purple. We rallied at the courthouse, got management to the table, and in the end stopped the harassment and disciplinary actions.
Flash forward to February 20, 2014 (last Thursday), when San Francisco court workers rallied outside the Civic Center courthouse to protest management's arbitrary new 'enforcement' of its dress code. While professing professionalism, supervisors seem more intent on exercising new forms of hostility, including sexual harassment. (Almost exactly two years ago, this same court illegally forbid the wearing of union items and was rebuffed.)
A couple weeks before the December holidays, the court's executive officer, Michael Yuen, sent an email to all employees saying that dress standards at the court had become “inappropriate,” and that according to court policy “[e]mployees must maintain a professional, business-like appearance…”
SEIU 1021 chapter officers quickly called for a “meet and confer” with management -- as required by their union contract -- to discuss the sudden new enforcement of an 18-year old policy.
“We are concerned not only with what the court considers ‘appropriate,’ but that there be a clear written policy so people know how to adhere to it and that there be a clear and consistent application of the policy and how violations are dealt with,” said Diane Williams, president of the San Francisco court chapter and a clerk at the Hall of Justice.
Management refused to meet, and the union filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the Public Employee Relations Board.
Crossing the line -
Court supervisors began enforcing the code with predictable inconsistency and arbitrariness. Individual supervisors made subjective decisions on what was appropriate and began sending workers home without pay. Union activists and people out of favor with particular supervisors were singled out, while others wearing nearly identical outfits were left alone.
Such 'enforcement' has opened the door to sexual harassment charges against the department. Jean Tualla (pictured), a courtroom clerk in the Criminal Dept. at the Hall of Justice, told the courthouse rally what had happened to her just weeks earlier, on Jan. 30.
After having her outfit approved by a female supervisor one day, a few days later she received an email summons that suggested she bring a shop steward. When they arrived -- Tualla was wearing the same outfit -- they were met by the same female supervisor and a male supervisor.
They gave her a "corrective action" memo to sign acknowledging she had been sent home for inappropriate attire on three previous days. When Tualla signed it and added a written statement that she didn't agree with the findings, the male supervisor asked her to stand up so he could see what she was wearing. Then he told her to turn around, as if he couldn't tell if her outfit was appropriate from the front. He told her it wouldn't do and sent her home without pay.
San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who attended the rally to support the workers -- and is also an attorney -- was stunned by Tualla’s story. “Basic sexual harassment law says you can’t do that,” he said. “We need to make sure the supervisor who did this is held accountable.”
Call to Action against abuse of teachers!
2014-02-25 from an anonymous unionized teacher at the Los Angeles School District:
I write this to urge you to report criminal behavior at LAUSD and UTLA. Some of these acts are so egregious there is reason to call them a crime. In fact, some of you were endangered by a principle who tried to have you assaulted by students, others were discouraged from abiding their court mandated duty to report abuse, a lot of you were targeted for removal because you were about to vest in lifetime health care and full pensions.
It's funny how so many bad teachers are also veterans who have worked decades without a single complaint are now considered incompetent, deviant , unfit , addled and creepy. There are a litany of defamation claims, harassment, purloined portions of paychecks demanded after statute of limitations for payroll fiasco and one teachers refused to repay the district since it had no record of the overpayment, which she hadn't memory if either. She was fired for defiantly holding her stand against this outrage .
Some saw APs steal school property right as it was delivered by UPS, others know of coordinators padding z time and misappropriating funds, others know about copious noncompliance that puts student's and staff in danger.
A good percentage of you are forever damaged by the ordeal LAUSD / UTLA Subjected you to. PTSD is an epidemic. So is depression. Teachers injured on the job cannot even get workers' comp benefits because LAUSD bribes doctors and judges to disqualify claims.
Hemlock WC lawyer and hero Clint Feddersen has horror stories about the mistreatment of his clients.
It is hard to accept that these are criminal activities if you have been at LAUSD awhile. You get a warped perception of reality. The cycle of abuse can suck you in. It can kill you. I know many have gone to early graves thanks to stress. LAUSD celebrates one less retirement to fund. The lawlessness and abuse is apparently sanctified and even enabled by the teachers' union, which is immersed in treachery and terrorism with the election this year. It is fraught with code violations, disregard of protocol, cheating, intimidation, fraud and collusion of the worst sort.
Stolen funding, test erasure parties, mobbing, state education codes ignored and dangerous conditions on campus are criminal. So is concealing child abuse. But no one answers for this except innocent Teachers and the victims.
Apparently the new DA has decided to restore public integrity ABD has growing concerns about the city's school system. Please write to the DA about what you feel is criminal and have viable information about. I know I need to practice what I am about to preach but it bears repeating. Keep it clear; keep it concise. If you know the name of the crime committed (intimidation, extortion, embezzling, collusion, fraud, perjury, child endangerment, exploitation, theft, abuse of process, harassment, child abuse, tampering with evidence, forgery and abuse of process are common) include it provide dates, short summaries of the transgressions and names of the culprits. Do not use witness names until you see the DA. This should protect them and you from district reprisals or intimidation.
The case should not be more than three years old, I would report:
* Child Abuse that is concealed or condoned
* Child endangerment
* Sabotage
* Scams
* Lack of books
* Broken or unclean restrooms
* Asbestos, vermin, toxic sites, unsafe structures
* Threats
* Cheating in elections, testing, faculty votes and so on
* Reprisals for whistleblowers
* Special education noncompliance and discrimination
* Wrongful termination
* Garnished paychecks that you have not agreed to
* Verbal abuse
* Failure to provide discovery, exculpatory evidence and access to charges that result in loss of due process.
EVEN IF YOU SETTLED YOUR CASE YOU SHOULD REPORT IT. THE GAG ORDER ISN'T APPLICABLE WHEN IT COMES TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC Integrity. MANY OF YOU MAY BE ABLE OVERTURN UNFAIR AGREEMENTS BECAUSE YOU SIGNED THEM UNDER DURESS. THAT IS INTIMIDATION.
* Brown act violations
* Segregation
* Police brutality
* Collusion
* Abuses of power and process
* Misappropriated or missing funds
* Civil rights violations
* ASTRO turf
* and forgery
Send an email to the DA [aingalls@da.lacounty.gov].
Wait. Do not ruin your claims by bombarding the DA with emails.
Do not send the email to anyone besides the DA & attorney if you have one.
If the DA fails to reply after 4 weeks, contact me to discuss what to do next.
If you have fears about doing this and need someone to present the information in the event of your demise or other calamity I have a file to hold it in.
If enough of you report, the DA will have no choice but to follow through.
If reporters cover this story they can make the difference they intend to.
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