[Oakland] Hundreds in the Streets Protest BART Shooting

re-posted from Oakland Tribune: Inside Bay Area, 01/07/09

Hundreds Gather on Oakland Streets to Protest BART Shooting

OAKLAND — Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has come on the scene, he was surrounded by dozens of protesters and talking with officers trying to quell the situation.

At least 50 police are on scene wearing gas masks, and Oakland's Tactical Operations Team is also on scene but has not been deployed, according to a Tribune reporter on scene.

Property damage has begun to occur, as some windows of businesses have been smashed. The majority of the protesters have been peaceful, but a small group has caused the problems. Traffic is blocked off between Broadway and 13th Street, as well as problems breaking out around Franklin Street near 13th.

The demonstrators from a protest against the fatal BART police shooting of Oscar Grant III took to Oakland streets Wednesday night, lighting fire to a Dumpster near 8th and Madison streets and prompting police to shut down the Fruitvale and Lake Merritt BART stations.

Protesters rammed the Dumpster against a police car, bashing in the front and back windows and denting the passenger side.

Scores of police, including BART police, Oakland Police Department and officers from the Housing Authority responded in special helmets for added protection.

Earlier at the demonstration, Grant's younger sister, Audrena Gilbert, said former officer Johannes Mehserle, who appears in cell phone videos apparently drawing his gun and shooting at an unarmed, restrained Grant on New Year's Day, has not talked to the bereaved family.

"I want him to start. I want him to apologize for what he did," Gilbert, a 19-year-old Oakland woman, said. "I want him to tell the truth, why he shot him, what he shot him for. That's all I want."

The protest was led by speakers for the Coalition Against Police Executions and drew a crowd police estimated as 500 people.

"It's not enough the officer resigned today," said Sean Dugar, president of the California National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth and College Division. "We demand he be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. ... We shut down one BART station this afternoon. Let's do another one next week."

[NC] Union organizing victory!

suggested by: Sendolo, re-posted from: Southernstudies.org

By Chris Kromm, Dec 12, 2008

VICTORY AT SMITHFIELD: Union scores big win in North Carolina

In what unions are hailing as a crucial victory in the South, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union prevailed in their 16-year campaign to organize the world's largest pork slaughterhouse.

By a vote of 2,041 to 1,879, workers at Smithfield Foods' massive hog plant in Tar Heel, N.C. voted to unionize the plant in what had become one of the most closely-watched labor battles in the country.

Virginia-based Smithfield had earned a national reputation for its hostility to organized labor: A 2005 report by Human Rights Watch had singled out Smithfield for creating a "climate of fear" among workers, including intimidation, harassment and even beatings of suspected activists.

Indeed, such tactics are what caused the two previous union elections at Smithfield to be dismissed:

The results of two previous elections at the plant in the 1990s were thrown out after federal officials declared that the company had harassed and fired union supporters, even forcing an employee to stamp the words "Vote No" on dead hogs.

Smithfield was forced to pay $1.1 million in back pay plus interest to employees who had been fired for union activity, after a federal judge ruled in the union's favor in 2006.

But workers at the plant soldiered on: Two years ago, 1,000 workers staged a wildcat strike over issues ranging from immigration raids to sexual harassment and Smithfield's failure to compensate workers for injuries suffered at the dangerous site. The following year, hundreds of workers walked out to protest the company's refusal to make Martin Luther King Day a paid holiday.

Union organizers say that not only tenacity but also unity among the largely African-American and Latino workforce was key to victory.

Also critical was the Justice for Smithfield campaign, launched in 2006 to mobilize national community, faith and consumer support for the union. Smithfield saw the Justice for Smithfield campaign as particularly dangerous: The company filed a racketeering lawsuit against the UFCW, claiming the solidarity campaign had cost them $900 million.

In a surprise move last month, the UFCW and Smithfield settled the lawsuit. The UFCW agreed scale down its national campaign, and the agribusiness giant agreed to stop its public attacks on the union as they headed towards this week's union election.

Last month's neutrality agreement was a critical turning point. As Jane Slaughter wrote in Labor Notes before the election, the pact's requirement that both sides avoid negative attacks in lobbying workers helped dispel the climate of fear that had thwarted the union:

The settlement is more favorable to the union than many 'neutrality' agreements that unions and companies have arrived at where both sides are limited to "factual' language."

Under the "factual" criterion, companies have distributed details about the worst union contracts in the country, talked about union officials' salaries, or made statements such as, "If you go on strike, we can permanently replace you."

The UFCW-Smithfield deal, though, uses a different standard: negativity. Both company and union may talk themselves up, but neither may disrespect the other. Smithfield can brag, for example, about its wages and working conditions--and if that impresses any workers in the plant, they can vote accordingly. UFCW can talk about what unions do for workers.

The Smithfield campaign signals that even in Southern states as notoriously hostile to labor as North Carolina, workers -- when free of intimidation and fear -- can and will organize.

[Illinois] Governor Suspends Bizz With Bank Of America

re-posted from Huffington Post

by Katharine Zaleski

Illinois Governor Suspends Business With Bank Of America

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced Monday that he is asking all Illinois government agencies to suspend business with Bank of America. Blagojevich contended that Bank Of America received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the government and should accordingly restore credit to the Republic Windows & Doors company in Chicago.

Officials from Bank of America, which canceled the company's financing, are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon with Republic officials and union leaders.

More about the protest:

About 200 workers who lost their jobs last week with little notice have been occupying the plant around-the-clock in eight-hour shifts, said Fried said. About 60 were inside early Monday.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez said Monday's meeting would address the workers' concerns.

Company officials have not commented since the sit-in began Friday, and have not responded to calls and e-mails. Gutierrez said company officials had signed a waiver permitting the opening of its financial records at the meeting.

Republic Windows and Doors told the workers on Dec. 2 that they would be out of work by the end of the week.

Fried said the company told the union that Bank of America had canceled its financing. The bank had said in a statement that it wasn't responsible for Republic's financial obligations to its employees.

[Chicago] Continued coverage of factory occupation

re-posted from Associated Press

Idled workers occupy factory in Chicago, By Rupa Shenoy

December 6, 2008

CHICAGO - Outraged and determined Chicago factory workers who were abruptly laid off this week have occupied their former workplace and say they won't leave until they get the severance and vacation pay they say they're owed.

The employees say they received three days notice their plant was closing. In the second day of a sit-in on the factory floor Saturday, about 250 union workers occupied the building in shifts while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.

About 50 workers sat on pallets and chairs inside the Republic Windows and Doors plant, supplied with donated food, sleeping bags and blankets. Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give its 300 employees the 60 days' notice required by law before shutting.

During the takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.

"We're doing something we haven't done since the 1930s, so we're trying to make it work," Fried said.

She said the company can't pay employees because its creditor, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, won't let them. Crain's Chicago Business reported that Republic Windows' monthly sales had fallen to $2.9 million from $4 million during the past month. In a memo to the union, obtained by the business journal, Republic CEO Rich Gillman said the company had "no choice but to shut our doors."

Bank of America received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package. The company said in a statement to news outlets Saturday that it isn't responsible for Republic's financial obligations to its employees.

Representatives of Republic Windows did not immediately respond Saturday to calls and e-mails seeking comment.

"Across cultures, religions, union and nonunion, we all say this bailout was a shame," said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743. "If this bailout should go to anything, it should go to the workers of this country."

Outside the plant, protesters wore stickers and carried signs that said, "You got bailed out, we got sold out."

Larry Spivack, regional director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said the peaceful action will add to Chicago's rich history in the labor movement, which includes the deadly 1886 Haymarket affair, when Chicago laborers and anarchists gathering in a square on the city's West Side drew national attention when an unidentified person threw a bomb at police.

"The history of workers is built on issues like this here today," Spivack said.

Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said authorities were aware of the situation and officers were patrolling the area.

Workers were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, Fried said. Union officials said another meeting with the company is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"We're going to stay here until we win justice," said Blanca Funes, 55, of Chicago, after occupying the building for several hours.

Speaking in Spanish, Funes said she fears losing her home without the wages she feels she's owed. A 13-year employee of Republic, she estimated her family can make do for three months without her paycheck.

Most of the factory's workers are Hispanic.

[Paraguay] New Tactics: Women Crucified for Housing Demands

I was very hesitant to post this article on a "good news" blog but I decided to for several reasons, which I thought you should know. This article is not being posted because women allowed themselves to be crucified but because of the clear innovation in symbolic tactics and engagement with consciousness. It is significant that this action was performed in a clear majority (90%) Catholic country, as opposed to an atheist country or one with a lower ratio, etc. It is important to remember that not all good news is uncomplicated. For example, my friend Gaurav said, Obama's election.

Long live critical analysis.

re-posted from Huffingtonpost.com


Women Nailed To Crosses In Paraguay To Demand Housing

ASUNCION, Paraguay -- Two women let themselves be crucified on wooden crosses and carried around Paraguay's capital on Friday as part of citywide protests demanding President Fernando Lugo grant funds for low-income housing.

Members of various homeless organizations nailed the women's hands and bound their feet to crosses in a plaza to pressure the Social Action Secretariat to give them $1 million to purchase land and build homes.

The women were identified as Laura Raquel Ramirez, 37, and Naida Villaverde, 41. One of them fainted from the heat and pain, said Blas Vera, one of the movement's leaders.

Several men heaved the crosses on their shoulders and bore the women through Asuncion, joining dozens of other protesters.

Nearly 90% of Paraguay's 6 million citizens are Roman Catholic.

Social Action head Pablino Caceres said the funds will be made available, but the agency will control them.

"The resources are there, but we will administer them," Caceres said. "We are changing the assistance model. In previous governments the leaders of the homeless groups controlled the money, but not now."

Leftist ex-bishop Fernando Lugo assumed the presidency in August, ending 61 years of single-party rule. He promises to end the extreme poverty in Paraguay, but some of his supporters say he is not acting fast enough.

[Chicago] Laid Off Workers Occupy Factory

re-posted from the socialistworker.org

Lee Sustar reports from Chicago on an occupation by workers who want what's theirs from management and the Bank of America.

December 6, 2008

WORKERS OCCUPYING the Republic Windows & Doors factory slated for closure are vowing to remain in the Chicago plant until they win the $1.5 million in severance and vacation pay owed them by management.

In a tactic rarely used in the U.S. since the labor struggles of the 1930s, the workers, members of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 1110, refused to leave the plant on December 5, its last scheduled day of operation.

"We decided to do it because this is money that belongs to us," said Maria Roman, who's worked at the plant for eight years. "These are our rights."

Word of the occupation spread quickly both among labor and immigrant rights activists--the overwhelming majority of the workers are Latinos. Seven local TV news stations showed up to do interviews and live reports, and a steady stream of activists arrived to bring donations of food and money and to plan solidarity actions.

Management claims that it can't continue operations because its main creditor, Bank of America (BoA), refuses to make any more loans to the company. After workers picketed BoA headquarters December 3, bank officials agreed to sit down with Republic management and UE to discuss the matter at a December 5 meeting arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill), said UE organizer Leah Fried.

BoA had said that it couldn't discuss the matter with the union directly without written approval from Republic's management. But Republic representatives failed to show up at the meeting, and plant managers prepared to close the doors for good--violating the federal WARN Act that requires 60 days notice of a plant closure.

The workers decided this couldn't go unchallenged. "The company and Bank of America are throwing the ball to one another, and we're in the middle," said Vicente Rangel, a shop steward and former vice president of Local 1110.

Many workers had suspected the company was planning to go out of business--and perhaps restart operations elsewhere. Several said managers had removed both production and office equipment in recent days.

Furthermore, while inventory records indicated there were plenty of parts in the plant, workers on the production line found shortages. And the order books, while certainly down from the peak years of the housing boom, didn't square with management's claims of a total collapse. "Where did all those windows go?" one worker asked.

Workers were especially outraged that Bank of America, which recently received a bailout in taxpayer money, won't provide credit to Republic. "They get $25 billion from the government, and won't loan a few million to this company so workers can keep their jobs?" said Ricardo Caceres, who has worked at the plant for six years.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

THE MEMBERS of Local 1110 have a history of struggle. In 2004, they decertified the Central States Joint Board--a union notorious for corruption and sweetheart contracts with management--and brought in UE, a far more democratic organization.

In May of this year, Local 1110 mobilized for a contract by organizing a "practice" picket, and 70 workers used their lunch break to confront the boss with a petition listing their demands. The workers were able to turn back company's effort to win major concessions and won solid pay increases.Now, management is trying to get revenge by pocketing money that belongs to the workers.

UE officials and workers acknowledge that it will be difficult to stop the plant from closing. But they're determined to get the money owed to them--and they believe that by fighting, they can set an example for other workers facing layoffs and plant closures as the recession deepens.

Negotiations are set for Monday, December 8. Whatever happens, however, the workers have already sent a message to employers that if they violate workers rights and the law, they can expect a fight.

"This is a message to the workers of America," said Vicente Rangel, the shop steward. "If we stand together, we will prevail until justice is done, and we get what we're due."

WHAT YOU CAN DO

If you live in the Chicago area, come to a rally on Saturday, December 6, at 12 Noon at Republic Windows, 1333 N. Hickory in Chicago, on Goose Island. If negotiations with Bank of America fail to resolve the issue, there will be a picket of BoA's Chicago headquarters at 231 S. LaSalle on Tuesday, December 9 at 12 noon.

Members of Local 1110 need your support. Make checks payable to the UE Local 1110 Solidarity Fund, and mail to: 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607. Messages of support can be sent to leahfried@gmail.com. For more information, call UE at 312-829-8300.

At the Jobs with Justice Web site, you can send a message of protest to Bank of America.