When the Right attacks: defending our allies

For the last several nights, Rachel Maddow has been doing an excellent expose of the pro-corporation right-wing forces that have been attacking ACORN.  Sadly, she has correctly pointed out that the liberal establishment has failed to rally to defend ACORN.  Even further to the left, among progressives who should understand the critical importance of defending groups that organize poor people and people of color, there have actually been opportunistic criticisms of ACORN at a time when what was most needed was rallying to its defense.

So it is more than a little frightening to hear her prediction that the next target of the ruling class attack dogs will be SEIU – the Service Employees International Union.  The connection is certainly easy to see: like ACORN many of the locals of SEIU around the country have memberships that are predominantly low-wage workers and workers of color.   The union worked  tirelessly for Obama in the presidential election and was responsible for registering and getting out large numbers of first time voters.

But as with ACORN, there is clearly another element to the right wing strategy: the knowledge that SEIU has its critics within the labor movement, and the expectation that those critics will either leave the union swinging in the breeze or will use the opportunity to air and escalate their own criticisms of its organization and leadership.

Working class and progressive activists who witnessed the outrageous assault on ACORN have to be prepared for the next wave.  We need to understand that objectively anything that emboldens the right and weakens organizations that serve working people and poor people is contrary to the interests of our class.  And as the right wing chorus against SEIU – or any other of our class allies – rises, we have to be prepared to show real solidarity and write, petition, picket and march to defend them.

Filed under: Labor solidarity, Uncategorized

Marching on Wall St. to Fulfill King’s Dream: A Jobs Program

By New York City Council Member Charles Barron and Chris Silvera, Secretary-Treasurer, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 808; past President of the Teamsters National Black Caucus

We will be amongst the many speakers at the “Bail Out People, Not Banks” rally on Wall St. on Friday, April 3.

On Friday morning, just a few hours before the Wall St. rally, the bureau of labor statistics is going to announce that another two-thirds of a million workers got laid off in March.

This is one of the reasons why we intend to use the time allotted us to speak, to call for the creation of a massive jobs program. We are going to call it the “Fulfill King’s Dream Jobs Program” in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We have four reasons for associating King’s name with the jobs program. The first reason is that April 4 will mark the 41st anniversary of Dr. King’s martyrdom. The second reason is that King devoted the final months of his life to launching a movement for the right of all to either a job or an income.

King saw the struggle for the right to a job or an income as nothing less than the second phase of the civil rights movement. Securing a job at a living wage for all was the central demand of the poor people’s campaign that King initiated in late 1967.

The third reason is that at no time in our lifetime has the need for the massive jobs program that King dreamed about been more urgently needed. Depression-level layoffs and home foreclosures are populating new tent cities from coast to coast. Whole families are living under bridges and in parks on the outskirts of cities.

The real unemployment rate, if you count those who want full-time jobs but can only find part-time or temporary work, is upwards of 15 percent. Everyone from the World Bank to the National Urban League says that the jobless rate is only going to get worse.

The latest “State of Black America” report, issued by the National Urban League, confirms what everyone already knows. While very few, regardless of race and gender, are not harmed or threatened by the biggest worldwide economic collapse since the 1930s, it is the Black and Latin@ communities that are the most devastated by the crisis–especially Black and Latin@ youth. Jail is not the jobs program for young people that King dreamed about; it is his and should be our worst nightmare.

The unemployment crisis demands a real jobs program, something equal to the size and scope of the Work Projects Administration created by Congress in 1935 to put millions of jobless people to work.

In its first year the WPA created more than 3.4 million jobs (the equivalent of about 10 million jobs today). Under the WPA, workers were paid the prevailing wage in the industry or vocation they worked in.

The stimulus legislation passed by Congress in February may help ease the suffering of some, but it’s not going to reverse or even halt the soaring jobless rate. There is no jobs program currently in effect or even under serious consideration by the government that comes even close to the seriousness and size of the WPA.

Where do we get the money for such a jobs program? When the government is prepared to pump trillions of dollars into the banking system, the question is not where will the money come from, but rather what need should it be devoted to. The $200 billion that the government has given AIG alone could have created anywhere between 3 to 4 million jobs that pay a living wage.

There is another important point that makes the WPA jobs program relevant to today’s crisis. The WPA should have started at an earlier stage of the U.S. and global depression 75 years ago. However, the government delayed putting a serious jobs program in place until it was painfully clear that waiting for the banks to be fixed before putting the jobless back to work was a huge mistake. We must not make the same mistake again.

We don’t think King believed that meeting the needs of the poor and the unemployed must be contingent upon the solvency of JP Morgan Chase, Citicorp, Bank Of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, etc.; or contingent on the power of these big banks to turn the economy on and off depending on what makes them richer.

The belief that until the banks are fixed, there can be no jobs, no economy and nothing but layoffs, evictions, cutbacks, fare hikes, tuition increases, etc., is not some commandment decreed by heaven; it’s a rule made down here on Earth to protect the interest of the few against that of the many.

We refuse to accept the rules that say that the only good way to do things is the way that makes rich capitalists happy and leaves the rest of us at their mercy. Such rules must be changed. The only certain thing is that nothing will change unless people demand it.

Here’s our fourth reason for naming the jobs program after Dr. King. The election of an African-American president is without a doubt the realization of a part of King’s dream. But a president is not a substitute for a mass movement for social justice.

King knew that the captains of industry were not going to suddenly wake up one morning believing that the cause of economic and social justice was superior to their profit motive and thus create good paying jobs for the poor. King knew that it would take a mass social movement to get the job done.

It is a mistake–and a dangerous one–for those of us who are still rejoicing over how we made history last November to simply sit on the sidelines and wait to see how things turn out, instead of raising hell. King served the interests of the downtrodden and oppressed. Obama must serve all sides. To the extent that Obama wants to do things that directly bail out poor and working people, don’t forget that there are powerful people in Washington and on Wall St. who are dedicated to stopping him. Those powerful people will prevail unless they see and hear the angry masses marching in the streets below their ivory towers.

The popular outrage over the bailout of the banks is a precious and powerful force. It should not–it must not–be wasted. Let’s focus that anger into the struggle for the things that we need.

We’ll be on Wall St. on Friday, April 3 demanding that the unemployed be bailed out with a real jobs program. We invite you to join us.

Filed under: Community organizing, Economic crisis, Labor solidarity

Support CWA Local 1298

Filed under: Labor solidarity

Sarkozy fears revolt as two million march across France

Protesters denounce M. Sarkozy’s economic strategy in Paris yesterday

REUTERS

By John Lichfield in Paris

President Nicolas Sarkozy was facing the prospect of a deepening social and political revolt yesterday after more than two million people took to the streets to protest against his handling of the global recession.

French trades unions succeeded in mobilising even more protesters than for their previous, impressive show of strength in late January. A day of strikes in the public and private sectors did not bring the country to a halt but disrupted transport, schools and government offices, newspapers and radio stations and some factories.

M. Sarkozy is known to be worried that a lingering and hot-tempered dispute over university reforms could merge with the anger generated by the recession to create the kind of April-May street revolt that France has known in the past, notably in 1968.

Yesterday’s protests in 200 towns and cities, including a raucous march by about 350,000 people in Paris, passed off peacefully apart from the usual end-of-demo vandalism and missile-throwing by a minority. Police made 300 arrests last night after running battles with hooded youths.

Judging by the faces and voices in the Paris march, the challenge to M. Sarkozy is coming not just from a hot-headed fringe, or from the usual suspects of the left, but from a groundswell of anger and fear among ordinary people. Nathalie Brisac, 48, a teacher training instructor, said: “I have never attended a demonstration before. There is no point in protesting against the recession, but we can demand fairness in the way the government responds to it: less money for bankers and more for ordinary people.”

A poll suggested the protests were supported by 74 per cent of French voters. With unemployment over two million, the unions want M. Sarkozy to protect jobs, boost wages and scrap his 50 per cent tax “ceiling”.

Filed under: Economic crisis, Labor solidarity

Fighting the lay-offs: union bucks the corporate trend in Connecticut

Up til now in this recession, the corporations have had it all their own way.  But popular anger over multi-trillion dollar corporate bailouts and the rising tide of lay-offs, cuts in hours and cuts in pay may be beginning to make a change.

The legal system is set up to preserve and protect the interests of big business.  Typically, the law makes little or no provision for interfering in a company’s ability to lay off or move workers or to move its somewhere else.  Add to that the strong inclination of lawmakers and judges to interpret these laws to protect corporations, and efforts to reign them in or hold them accountable are typically an up-hill battle.

Members of CWA Local 1298 rally against AT&T lay-offs

That’s why both unions and big business are looking carefully at a legal power struggle in Connecticut between telephone giant AT&T and the Communication Workers of America. AT&T employs about 6,800 workers in Connecticut.  Many of them are members of CWA Local 1298.  When the company announced recently that it intended to reduce its Connecticut workforce by 460 jobs, union members vowed to put up a fight.

The union, with the support of Connecticut’s attorney general, is calling on the state’s Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC), to bar the lay-offs.  They argue that the agency has the power to do so because the job cuts would harm customer service to AT&T users in Connecticut.

“We’re pushing the DPUC to do their job and to regulate the way they’re supposed to regulate,” said Bill Henderson, local chapter president of the Communications Workers of America. “We’re not asking for anything more than what the law says.”

Corporate mouthpieces for AT&T have already dredged up all manner of legal arguments about why the state does not have the authority to prevent them from cutting jobs.  But the company’s loudest argument – that enforcing Connecticut law to save jobs will scare away other corporations from doing business in Connecticut – may be the one that is increasingly falling on deaf ears.

For years, Connecticut workers have had it drilled into their heads that tax laws, anti-discrimination laws, and worker safety laws had to be carefully kept in check so as to create a “business friendly” environment.  After all, groups like the Connecticut Business and Industry Association whined, if working people don’t roll over for big business, corporations might pick up their marbles and go home.  Now, as we see the unmitigated greed and callous self-interest that these corporations exhibit in the current economic crisis, and as unemployment and poverty rises, the CBIA propaganda line may be starting to wear off.

Connecticut’s unemployment rate recently shot up to 7.1 percent and even the CBIA economists are admitting that double digit unemployment is likely even though the economy has not yet hit bottom.  As job losses take their toll on more and more families and communities, people are starting to think about their own self-interest as workers.  CWA’s creative use of the legal system to prevent the bosses from having it all their own way may be a spark that ignites class consciousness in Connecticut’s workers.

Filed under: Economic crisis, Labor solidarity

Junta Workers Center: Homemakers and companions recover over $16,000 in wages

[Our congratulations and solidarity go out to the New Haven homecare workers and to the folks at Junta Workers Center on this significant victory for workers' rights.]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 8, 2009

CONTACT:

Laura Huizar, Program Coordinator for Economic Development

(203) 787.0191 or laura.huizar@juntainc.org

HOMEMAKERS AND COMPANIONS RECOVER OVER $16,000 IN WAGES

New Haven homecare provider failed to compensate employees for work performed

New Haven, CT – On December 29, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled in favor of fifteen homemakers and companions who filed suit in May 2008 against their former employer, New Haven-based By Your Side Homemaker and Companion Services, LLC, for failing to pay in full for work performed. The women alleged that their employer repeatedly failed to pay them in a timely manner, paid them with checks that did not have sufficient funds, or refused to pay them at all. The court has awarded a total of $16,155.32 to the group, which includes liquidated damages in the amount of double the wages lost for each plaintiff.

Many of the women involved in the case worked for weeks without pay in order to continue serving their homebound clients, but all were ultimately forced to leave the company after its owners repeatedly ignored their demands for payment. “The company played with us,” says Betzaida Rodriguez, one of the plaintiffs. “When a laborer performs his responsibilities in a good and efficient manner, employers must do the same and pay their workers.” Today, the women involved continue to suffer from the company’s failure to compensate them. “My credit has been ruined and I can’t open a bank account anywhere,” states Glenda Rodriguez, another plaintiff in the case.

The homemakers and companions were able to organize themselves with the assistance of the Worker Center at JUNTA. The Center offered a place where they could share their stories, build strength as a group, and connect with Yale Law School students who provided legal representation in the case. “We are proud of these women who refused to accept their employer’s abuse and we are hopeful that this victory will encourage more workers to assert their rights,” said Laura Huizar, a worker rights organizer with the Worker Center.

JUNTA is the oldest Latino non-profit organization in New Haven and offers a wide range of programs including Adult Education, Economic Development, Cultural Awareness, Legal Advocacy, Family Management and Youth Services. JUNTA’s Worker Center, which operates at JUNTA’s offices, is dedicated to education, leadership development, and organizing as strategies for addressing workplace injustice in the New Haven area.

###

–
Economic Development, Program Coordinator
JUNTA for Progressive Action, Inc.
169 Grand Avenue
New Haven, CT 06513
Tel: 203.787.0191, ext. 16
Fax: 203.787.4934
www.juntainc.org

Filed under: Immigrant rights, Justice, justice, Labor solidarity

Immigrant workers sue Connecticut company for wage theft

CT company reportedly
exploits workers
Count on 8

Last Edited: Tuesday, 23 Dec 2008, 8:18 PM EST
Created On: Tuesday, 23 Dec 2008, 8:17 PM EST

* story by: Alan Cohn

Hartford (WTNH) – Dozens of construction workers are out thousands of dollars in wages and are now suing to get their due. The question is: did a Connecticut company reportedly exploit employees because of their immigration status?

Illegal immigration is a controversial issue to say the least. So why should people care about what allegedly happened to these workers?

Because if a company can pay an illegal immigrant less money for more work, good companies, which follow the rules, are hurt.

They are not your average plaintiffs in a law suit. In fact some, if not many of them, may not even be in the country legally which is why we were asked not to identify them.

One man says he is one of 34-former employees of National Carpentry Contractors who worked on a luxury condominium complex in Stamford.

It’s alleged the workers worked up to 70-hours a week with no overtime until their pay stopped altogether.

“They don’t know exactly what happened, they just told them they didn’t have the money to pay them any longer,” one translator said.

“Let’s be very clear, these workers were exploited by an employer who perceived them to be undocumented and therefore vulnerable and sought to exploit and prey on fear of retaliation whether deportation or other consequences,” Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

Attorney General Blumenthal is supporting the workers in their federal lawsuit, pointing out the law is suppose to protect all people whether they are here legally or not.

And, well aware immigration is a divisive issue, attorneys representing the workers point out:

“There are plenty of honest contractors out there who aren’t afraid to comply with Connecticut and Federal law and pay their workers properly for the work they do,” Peter Goselin, representing workers, said. “And when they compete against people who break the rules, the way National Carpentry Contractors did, then they loose.”

What does the company have to say? Late today John Kirk, owner of the company called News Channel 8 back. He denies mistreating the workers but does acknowledge some are owed money. He says he was put in a tough spot by other contractors who didn’t pay him.

Cohn: “You kept making payrolls even though you weren’t being paid yourself, and you simply ran out of money.”

Another attorney says this case is just the tip of the iceberg and that there are a lot of other cases like this.

And, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says there may be a need for federal investigators to look into this situation.

Filed under: Immigrant rights, Labor solidarity

Rally for Goodwin Hotel Workers 12/17

In light of the recent victory by the Republic Window and Door workers in Chicago, this is a timely announcement of a rally in support of workers who will be laid off as a result of the closing of the Goodwin Hotel, here in Hartford.  The Goodwin Hotel workers are represented by Unite Here Local 217:

Wednesday, December 17 at 4:00 PM, Rally for Goodwin Hotel Workers in front of the Goodwin Hotel, Asylum Avenue, Hartford.  Join workers in demanding that Northland pay severance, reasonable health benefits and provide recall rights.

Filed under: Economic crisis, Labor solidarity

Victory: Republic workers win!

‘Yes’ Vote at Republic: Workers Get Pay, Plant Occupation Ends – (UE News Online)

Filed under: Economic crisis, Labor solidarity

No settlement at Republic in Chicago: Workers are still occupying the plant

If you have been following the workers’ occupation of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, you may have seen a story that the occupation is over or that there has been a settlement. This is inconsistent with the information that the UE Union has posted today on its website, and presently they are calling for people to go forward for plans with solidarity actions. It’s important to note that in the UE Update they say that there will not be a ’settlement’ of the workers’ claims until they have the opportunity to vote on them.

UE Update: http://www.ueunion.org/uenewsupdates.html?news=435

Here is another communique attacking the ’settlement’ story:

Support Republic workers — Reports of settlement are bogus

The AP has released a story that Bank of America agreed to a settlement with the workers at the Republic Door and Windows plant. This is NOT TRUE!

At the same time the press pulled away from outside the plant to cover the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who came out over the weekend in support of the workers.

The union has released statements that the police have moved cars away from the plant and there is concern that they may be moving in for arrests. It is more urgent than ever that people come out in solidarity.

Financial contributions and letters of solidarity should be sent to: Local 1110, UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607.

——————————

SUPPORT THE WORKERS’ OCCUPATION OF THE REPUBLIC WINDOWS AND DOORS PLANT IN CHICAGO!

During the week of December 8-13
Organize Protests in Front of Your Local Bank of America Office or Building

Support the Demands of the
Republic Windows and Doors Workers:
Management Must Meet with the Workers
Workers Must Receive 60 Days Full Pay
No Repression Against the Workers;
No Attempts to Remove, Arrest or Charge Them

———————————–

Local Actions:

Chicago:
Sun, Dec 7, 10:30 AM Jessie Jackson and Rainbow PUSH deliver turkeys to workers occupying Republic Windows and Doors factory, 1333 N Hickory st. (near corner of Halsted and Division)
Monday, Dec 8th, 12 noon – Press Conference before UE workers meet with Bank of America and company executives. Supports welcome, bring food and monetary donations.
Tuesday, Dec 9th, 12 noon – Solidarity action at Bank of America, 231 S. LaSalle, Chicago, IL

Atlanta, GA:
Thursday, Dec. 11, 12 Noon – Bank of America – contact atlantaiac@aol.com for details.

Baltimore, MD:
Wednesday, Dec. 10, Emergency Demonstration at Bank of America, Downtown Corner of Redwood and Light Street. Call 410-467-6132 for details.

Buffalo, NY:
Wednesday, Dec 10, 4:30pm – Bank of America building – Fountain Plaza, Main & Huron, Buffalo, NY
Chapel HIll, NC:
contact Ben@fistyouth.org or 919-604-8167

Charlotte, NC:
Monday, Dec 8th, 12 Noon – Picket at Bank of American national Headquarters to support Republic workers. Corner of Trade St and Tryon in downtown Charlotte. Organized by UE local 150. call Dante Strobino at 919-539-2051 for more info

Detroit, MI:
Wednesday, Dec 10 12:00 noon – PROTEST RALLY, WEDS., DEC. 10, 12:00 NOON – BANK OF AMERICA, Guardian Building, Congress at Griswold, downtown Detroit

Durham, NC:
NAACP Stella Adams; 919-423-4130; sadams7943@aol.com

Greensboro, NC:
Thursday 12noon call UE local 150 organizer Salia Warren 773-981-3272

Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 4:30 – 6 PM – 550 S. Hill St., Los Angeles – Near corner of 6th and Hill St. by Pershing Square – Contact: (310) 677-6407

New York City:
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 12 Noon, Bank of America, 261 Broadway -download leaflet

Philadelphia, PA:
Wednesday, December 10 – 4:30 PM – In front of the Bank of America 16 and JFK Blvd, across City Hall

Richmond, VA:
Wednesday, Dec 10th at 12 noon at the downtown Bank of America, at its plaza at the corner of 12th & E. Main Sts 804-617-6965

San Francisco, CA:
Tues., Dec. 9, 5pm Powell and Market, San Francisco
more local actions will be listed as they are received.
www.bailoutpeople.org

———————

Filed under: Economic crisis, Labor solidarity