ALL OUT FOR JOBS, EDUCATION, PEACE AND EQUALITY
October 2nd, 2010, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
The Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ) is calling on all affiliates and supporters to rally for Jobs, Education, Peace and Equality, on October 2nd in Washington D.C. Initiated by the NAACP and labor unions, along with hundreds of progressive organizations, this rally promises to be powerful. The NFEJ is an endorser and is calling upon our members and affiliates to promote and mobilize our unions, community groups, poor people’s organizations, and student groups. We want to build our own movement that brings real change to the society we live in.
As the official unemployment hovers around 10% and the economy continues to be stagnant, we working people are growing more frustrated. This rally is the place for us to express that. It is a fact that African-American, Chicano/Mexicano, Puerto Rican, Native-American, and other oppressed communities are hit harder by the economic crisis–the real rates of unemployment are much higher than what the newspapers report. This rally is the place for us to expose that. We witnessed the U.S. government bail out banks and big Wall Street firms, while the politicians fought over whether to extend unemployment benefits for us. This rally is the place to voice our anger. The money for economic stimulus spending is running out, as the economy remains stagnant. In response, state and local governments are slashing budget and pushing the burden of the crisis on to our backs. More government cutbacks are planned which will create higher unemployment, rising education costs, and threaten our unemployment benefits. This rally is the place for us to demand the rich pay for the crisis they caused.
In D.C., we need to come together to demand concessions from the politicians and their wealthy backers. We need to demand jobs or income now! We demand full funding for public education and an end to privatization and cuts! We demand equality for all, including undocumented immigrants who pay their fair share but are cut out of the benefits—the new form of taxation without representation. We demand money for housing, not for wars and occupations.
We are coming together to build a movement. We have the power in our hands. We can organize an upsurge to make the changes we want. United in struggle, the African-American, Labor, and progressive movements provide a powerful alternative to the far right, corporate funded Tea Party. There is new motion arising in America that extends beyond elections and politicians. We can force politicians who represent the rich and powerful to respond to a people’s agenda. It is time we show the world there is a movement for change in America.
For more information about the October 2nd rally at the Lincoln Memorial, go to One Nation Working Together at:
http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/content/main
Workers Prepare Strike at UIC – Need Your Support!
2700 union workers, members of SEIU Local 73 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) are preparing to strike on Monday, August 23rd. They are demanding job security and a fair contract. They need your support. The Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ) is calling on its affiliates and supporters to show your solidarity.
The strike is provoked by UIC’s attempts to undermine the union and by an administration trying to balance the budget on the backs of workers. The UIC big wigs eliminated hundreds of civil service jobs by “reclassifying”, declaring the positions non-union. Not surprisingly most of those “reclassified” jobs are going to whites, while Blacks and Latinos account for 95% of the union workers. SEIU Local 73 is not going to allow this outrage!
An equally big issue is pay raises for union members. UIC pleads poverty because of the State budget crisis, but has actually increased their budget through contributions from rich people. Fact is the bosses at UIC are busy lining their pockets at the expense of workers, taxpayers, and students. Apparently there is no economic crisis if you are a big boss at a state university. President Hogan makes $620,000 per year with a $245,000 bonus over five years. Hogan’s assistant took an 85% pay increase to make $195,000 per year!
What is going on there? The average worker, according to management’s own estimate, makes $35,000 a year after many years on the job. While many workers are losing homes, the UIC bosses wasted $500,000 of taxpayer money to refurbish a mansion in the midst of this economic crisis. Are they crazy!
The brave union members of Local 73 SEIU need to be supported and praised for taking a stand and setting an example for other workers. The leaders of SEIU Local 73 are united and strong behind one of the biggest strikes in the country this year. The International union needs to understand the importance of this strike and send in reinforcements too. Meanwhile, it is the union members with the support of students, faculty and solidarity from other workers who will determine the outcome of this big battle in the heartland. Please do your part to help win the SEIU strike at UIC:
- Sign the petition to demand a fair contract for SEIU workers. This sends a message to UIC Chancellor Allen-Meares, UIC President Hogan, and members of the administration’s bargaining team that we want a fair contract. The online petition can be found here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/uicfaircontractsnow
- Strike solidarity—on Monday come walk the SEIU picket lines at UIC Student Center East at 750 S. Halsted, starts at 6:00 a.m.
- Spread the word–circulate the electronic petition to unions, community and student groups.
March on May Day
The Network for Economic Justice (NFEJ) is calling all members and affiliated unions and groups to mobilize for the May 1st immigrant rights marches and rallies across the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of working people, mainly Chicano/Mexicano – but all sorts of working people who want justice – will be out in the streets with signs and chants demanding “Legalization now!” and “Stop the raids and deportations!”
We need Congress to pass a just immigration bill. 12 million undocumented workers should have the right to come out of the shadows. Then children can stop worrying about their parents’ work places being raided and whether or not their parents are carried off to detention centers.
Unions and community groups are mobilizing their members. By marching in the streets on May 1, we can force the U.S. Congress to pass a just immigration law. We can stop the heavily armed Homeland Security forces from dividing up even more families. We can build a better society with equality and fairness.
A strong showing on May Day will be a blow against corporations that are trying to drive the process around immigration laws. The corporations want cheap labor and big profits. They want “guest worker” programs that deny rights to immigrant workers and put super-exploitation into law. Sadly, some unions are going along with this too.
Many politicians are pushing bills that mainly benefit corporations and the rich, while doing little for immigrant workers. Most politicians want to ignore the movement and give their corporate masters something they call “comprehensive reform.” Their “comprehensive reform” means “stick it to the little people” — add more barriers and punishment for people who haven’t done anything but work hard at low pay. Obama promised immigration reform, but it is clear we need to demand it now, not later.
There are two sides to this issue. One is the side of the corporations; the other is the side of the working people. The business bosses love it (and make money) when native-born and immigrants talk against each other. Don’t let the corporations win. May 1 is the day to come together and demand a decent life for all working people.
May Day started in1886 when Chicago workers, many of them immigrants, struck for the eight-hour day. Some died fighting for what is right. Now on May Day, workers march and celebrate in every country, understanding that those who labor down the street and across the globe are their brothers and sisters. May Day is a day for unity, where workers of all nationalities can support each other. Since 2006 in the U.S., the May Day theme is “Fight For Legalization Now!
So get your union, community, housing, welfare rights, or student group and bring them down to the big marches. Bring your flags and banners! Make your own signs for “Legalization Now!” and “No Guest Worker Programs!” We have a world to win!
Tell UIC “Stop Stalling! We Want A Fair Contract Now!”
The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), a union at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), is demanding a fair contract. While graduate employees teach many of today’s university classes, many live at or near the poverty level and chalk up great debts pursuing an education. UIC administrators are dithering about granting waivers for tuition and a controversial fee they call “tuition differentials”. Graduate employees are being asked to give a big chunk of their paycheck back to UIC by paying for tuition and hidden fees.
GEO at UIC, an affiliate of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ), is asking members and supporters to send emails demanding “Stop Stalling! We Want A Fair Contract Now!” to the UIC bosses at http://xrl.us/bgfowe.
Jes Cook, GEO Organizing Chair said, “We are at the one year mark in negotiations, and Monday will be our third federal mediation session. Last week, the administration told the campus community that our work is valued. Well, the time has come to show it. Give us job security and guarantee our tuition waivers. Settle this contract now.”
Joe Iosbaker, chief steward of SEIU Local 73 at UIC and a member of the NFEJ, said, “We support the GEO, and we are in the same boat as we prepare to take a strike vote next week. The bosses leave us only two choices: suffer or fight. Like the GEO, we will fight.”
The GEO is part of American Federation of Teachers Local 6297, representing 1400 teachers at UIC. Please visit GEO’s website at http://www.uic-geo.net/ for more information and updates.
The final mediation session is Monday, April 5th, 2010. The GEO invites you to rally at 8am, Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted, Chicago.
Alabama Bus Drivers Win Union Contract!
Statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ)
Union bus drivers at the University of Alabama are celebrating today! They voted to accept their first union contract late last night, March 8, 2010. All the members and supporters of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice are rejoicing with them!
Organizing a union and winning a first contract are difficult enough. To organize in the South where racism and intimidation are strong factors, is spectacular! The union workers and leaders of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1208 are to be congratulated for their grit and determination. They stood up and sent a message across the country,
“We’re NOT going to take it anymore!”
Most of the bus drivers are African-American, and many are women. The key to victory was uniting the workers and having solid allies in the fight–especially the University of Alabama Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). SDS organized the campus support that shifted the balance in favor of the union. The students stayed up past midnight making poster board signs and showed up at the bus depot by 4:30 AM to walk the strike picket. While the bus drivers held the picket lines, SDS rallied students to actively support the strikers in ending their poverty wages. Public opinion overwhelmingly supported the bus drivers. It was powerful!
SDS also brought in the Network to Fight for Economic Justice to organize national call in days targeting UA President Witt. The first call in day demanded Witt make a statement in support of the hard working bus drivers. The second one, during the one-day strike, demanded President Witt stop university “scab vans”. Union leaders and activists, welfare
rights organizers, community organizers, and students called from at least thirty cities and towns—including Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, LA, Tucson, Boston, Birmingham, Asheville, Gainesville, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Olympia, Chapel Hill, and New York City. Mario Harmon, the ATU Local 1208 Secretary Treasurer, could not be more thankful for the solidarity shown.
The gains made by establishing the union contract are important and will benefit every worker. The First Transit management, part of British corporation FirstGroup, will no longer be able to fire workers at a whim. The union provides fairness to everyone. The wage increases negotiated at the table will raise most drivers out of poverty. The drivers won one more personal day for a total of three. When a bus is unsafe, management will have to listen to the driver.
The rank and file bus drivers will have to prepare for the next contract struggle down the road. The union will need to make gains around affordable health care, sick days, and wage increases to match other union bus drivers. Today however, the victory is won! The workers now have a contract to build upon and they are setting an example to other workers to stand up and take back what belongs to them!
Alabama Bus Drivers On Strike! Justice for Southern Workers!
Stop President Witt From Breaking Bus Drivers’ Strike!
Alabama bus drivers are now on strike! At 4:30 this morning union bus drivers, joined by students with home made picket signs, gathered at the company depot to begin picketing. Bus drivers talked other fellow union members into joining them on the picket line and the buses are idle. Alabama SDS leaders report the University posted signs saying “No bus service today”. Mario Harman, a local officer with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208 said the strike was effective so far and spirits are high!
However, Dr. Witt, University of Alabama President is forcing university workers to run 15 passenger vans around campus and threatening to fire them if they don’t break the strike.
Last week Dr. Witt told Chapin Gray of Alabama SDS and a steering committee member of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice, “You are calling the wrong person, the university was not involved at all in the dispute between First Transit and the bus drivers’ union, ATU 1208.” Chapin asked Dr. Witt to make a statement of support for the union bus drivers and he refused. Now we see whose side he is on!
Call Dr. Witt TODAY at 205-348-5103
Tell Dr. Witt, “Stop Scabbing! Support the union bus drivers!”
1. Honor the strike
2. Make a public statement supporting the ATU 1208 bus drivers
3. Tell First Transit to settle with the union!
The Network to Fight for Economic Justice can be reached at http://www.wesayfightback.com
FIGHT TO DEFEND EDUCATION AND JOBS ON MARCH 4!
The Network to Fight for Economic Justice calls on all its members and supporters to protest and rally for jobs and education rights on March 4, 2010, at schools and colleges across the country. Within the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, workers and students are struggling more than ever to stop cut backs and layoffs, and to keep fair wages, affordable tuition, and the right to an education.
On March 4, students and workers will take a stand to say no more to bailouts and big bonuses for bankers as campus employees and students are made to pay for the budget crisis. Campus workers, professors, teachers, and graduate students across the country face massive budget cuts, furloughs, lay offs, and shortened hours. Students face tuition and fee hikes that are driving them out of school, hindering access to a quality education, denying their hopes and dreams.
In the face of this dire situation of economic crisis created by the rich, the bankers, and the politicians, workers and students are fighting back. Three examples are: (1) the student and worker strikes at the massive University of California system last November; (2) the University of Alabama bus drivers fight for a union contract with a livable wage; and (3) the Garfield High School parents’ group and the United Teachers union of Los Angeles fighting privatization of the education system. There is hope! In the struggle!
On March 4, the fight continues, as a nation-wide movement led by coalitions of campus union workers like Teamsters, AFSCME and SEIU, professors associations and graduate employee organizations (NEA, AFT, GEO), students groups like SDS and MEChA and Black student unions, parents organizations, and community members plan to take action chanting, ““Chop from the Top!” and “They say “Cut Back”, We say “Fight Back!” and “Education Is a Right!””
March 4 will be a turning point in the struggle against education cut backs. Politicians and the wealthy people who tell them what to do will have to think twice about making cutbacks that slice education budgets. The movement must demand more taxes on the corporations and the rich. Students and workers are sick of being told there is money for war and there’s no money for jobs, housing, health care, and education.
Please write to the Network at info@wesayfightback.com if you want more information and to sign up for the Network email list.
Justice for Southern workers! Support University of Alabama bus drivers fighting for a living wage!
Call to action from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice
In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, bus drivers are in the midst of a struggle for a living wage. Fed up with earning poverty wages, the bus drivers are demanding their first union contract. Nearly a year ago, the Crimson Ride bus drivers voted unanimously to join Amalgamate Transit Union (ATU) Local 1208.
The University of Alabama contracts out to First Transit, a division of the massive British multinational FirstGroup PLC, which runs the Crimson Ride bus service on campus. The university pays the company $55.50 an hour, and in turn, the company pays the drivers a paltry $9.50 an hour – poverty wages. The union drivers are demanding $14 per hour and benefits comparable to university bus drivers in other states.
First Transit employs more than 60 drivers. Most are African-American and many are women. They face intimidation and harassment on the job from the boss. They receive none of the benefits that employees of the University of Alabama get. There is no pay on university holidays or during school breaks. Most cannot afford the expensive health care coverage that First Transit offers. Many work two jobs to make ends meet.
The South is not a friendly place for workers – ‘right to work’ laws make forming a union a nearly impossible task. Wages are lower and poverty is higher in the South due to racism against African-Americans and the lack of unions. Despite these obstacles, the Crimson Ride drivers are demanding the wages and benefits they deserve. The union drivers are launching a campaign to ask University of Alabama President Dr. Robert Witt to tell First Transit to meet the demands of the union. Supporting the union drivers, the Tuscaloosa chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is boarding buses to gather petition signatures.
During the 1950s and ‘60s in Alabama, courageous men, women and children fought for justice and civil rights. Rosa Parks refused to budge from her seat at the front of the bus. Today, the Crimson Ride bus drivers are standing up and fighting back for equal treatment, fair pay, and workers’ rights.
“First Transit, Stop Stalling!”
The Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ) is calling on trade unionists, housing activists, civil and equal rights groups, community organizations and students from across the country to stand in solidarity with the Crimson Ride drivers. Statements of solidarity can be sent to Union Steward Tia Brown at tb3341@yahoo.com.
The NFEJ is organizing a National Call In Day on February 17th:
Call Dr. Witt, President of the University of Alabama at 205-348-5103 and tell him “Stop stalling! We want a contract! Justice for the bus drivers now!”
Deb Konechne speaking at ‘We say fight back’ Conference
Keep checking back for more videos as they are published!
Introducing… The Network to Fight for Economic Justice!
The “We Say Fight Back!” Conference was a great success! Hundreds of activists from around the country came together in Chicago this past October 3 to share their experiences, and to discuss strategies for resisting the savage cutbacks now afflicting workers, students, the poor, women, and oppressed minorities across the United States. Therefore, it is with great pride and hope for the future that we present to you here the results of the concluding plenary of that Conference.
Several important resolutions were brought up for consideration and passed by acclamation. They will posted here as they become available, so keep checking back! Most importantly, it was decided to form a national network of participating organizations for coordinating our diverse local struggles. That resolution is below.
Proposal to initiate The Network to Fight for Economic Justice
Whereas:
We are now in the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The rich and powerful say that things are beginning to recover. There is no recovery for working people. Millions of homes are in foreclosure. Unemployment is growing. Massive cuts are taking place to the programs that benefit poor and working people, while the government tries to balance budgets on our backs. Inequality is growing, oppressed people–African-Americans, Chicanos, Latinos, and others, are the hardest hit by foreclosures, unemployment, and budget cuts. Immigrant workers are facing mass firings, raids and deportations.
Whereas:
The rich are taking the opportunity of the economic crisis to attack poor and working people and many of us are responding by fighting back. In cities around the country there are sharp struggles to stop evictions and to demand a moratorium on home foreclosures. At places like Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors there have been intense battles in response to plant closures. From California to New York, people have taken to the streets to protest cuts to schools and programs that serve our communities.
Therefore Be It Resolved:
Just as we have come together at the We Say Fight Back! conference in Chicago, Illinois to further the resistance of working people to the economic crisis, we will put our collective muscle behind local fights for justice. Where there is a fight back, like those that have taken place at Republic Windows and SK Hand Tools to name just a few, we will use our local strengths to build regional and national campaigns to fight back.
Anyone who endorsed the conference would be welcome to join the steering committee for the network. Membership in the steering committee will not be limited to those who endorsed before the conference.
The steering committee will develop proposals and hold meetings on an as needed basis via conference call and through electronic means. Decisions will be made by a majority vote.
Organizationally the network would speak only for the network and not for it’s member organizations.
Initially we propose that the conveners of the We Say Fight Back! Conference be the conveners/coordinators of the steering committee and take responsibility for implementing the decisions of the conference.
The Steering Committee, or those it designates will take responsibility for organizing future national conferences of the Network.