Boycott & Strike!

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Comment by Joe Balkis on June 23, 2012 at 23:33

The Longest Strike in the U.S. by Tom Broderick The longest current strike in America continues. The rank and file of UNITE-HERE! Local 1 voted to rally on June 15 at the Congress Hotel to mark the ninth year of their strike. This is 3,285 days.

In his speech at the end of the rally, Henry Tamarin, President of Local 1, referred to the usual suspects being present again. Some of the groups that were on the pavement included Interfaith Worker Justice, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation and Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Several unions were represented by individuals wearing their union colors. The giant inflated rats were there as well. Tamarin also mentioned another group of usual suspects -- the Chicago Police Department., some of whom had been at all the previous rallies.

The picket line was larger this year than last. Weather probably had an impact on the gathering last year, as we marched in the rain. This year we walked from the north end of the building, to the south end and then around the corner to the west-end of the building and back. The line was solid the entire length of the picket. Chants included "Up Up with the Union, Down Down with the Congress." During this chant, pickets reach up during the Up Up and lower themselves during the Down Down. My knees won't let me do the Down Down portion, but it is fun to watch.

In addition to Tamarin's talk during the close, Father Larry Dowling spoke, as did Dolores Contreras, one of the original Congress Hotel strikers. Several of them were on the speaker's platform. Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez also spoke. The event closed with Young General doing his hip-hop song from the video produced by Columbia College students about the historic strike.

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 23, 2012 at 23:33

UNITE-HERE! is also engaged in a contract struggle with the Hyatt Hotel chain. One of the areas of concern for UNITE-HERE! is subcontracting work to temp agencies. Henry Tamarin said that that practice began in Chicago at the Congress Hotel which he said now has not much more than 15 actual employees. The rest are temps. It's also worth remembering that three Boston-area Hyatt Hotels asked their housekeeping staff to train other workers to learn how to become housekeepers. Once the new workers were at the level that the management considered acceptable, they fired their current staff and replaced them with the newly trained workers. Despicable by any definition of the word.

UNITE-HERE! is planning a week of action in several cities in the U.S. and Canada focusing on the Hyatt campaign. This will lead to a call for a global boycott. The specifics are not complete, but in Chicago, the general outline is:

• Monday, July 23rd, Hyatt Visibility Day with young folk taking the forefront, making the struggle visible around the Chicago area.
• Tuesday, July 24th, Community Day with community groups taking the forefront, focusing on Hyatt Hurts themes. A newly formed Community Outreach committee will be working on these specifics.
• Wednesday, July 25th, Medical Community Day with the medical community taking the forefront. The medical community is the largest money-making group for the Hyatt chain.
• Thursday, July 26th, Mobilization Day. This is still in formation, but the idea is that the public is center stage, supporting the union's workers and their families.

As more information becomes available, Chicago DSA will keep you informed. For more coverage of June 15, see ABC7, UNITE HERE!, and Pinterest.

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 21, 2012 at 15:35

Striking Spanish coal miners need our help today.

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This week, over 1,000 trade unionists representing 50 million workers in manufacturing and mining founded a new global union federation: IndustriALL. IndustriALL's first online campaign -- hosted by LabourStart -- aims to pressure the Spanish government to negotiate with coal miners who have been on strike, and occupying their mines, for several weeks now. Please take a moment to learn more and show your support for the miners: http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1441 Thanks very much!

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 17, 2012 at 2:27

Standing Up to Corporate School Agenda, Chicago Teachers Greenlight Strike
After a sustained education and turnout campaign, 98 percent of Chicago teachers voted to greenlight a strike if Mayor Rahm Emanuel sticks to his demands. Teachers are angry over large classes, too few social workers and teachers' aides, a deadening of a curriculum increasingly tailored to standardized tests, a quarter of all schools lacking a library, and the imposition of unpaid work.

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 17, 2012 at 1:58

"No Justice, No
Piece": Pizza Company Accused of Targeting Immigrant
Strikers
Josh Eidelson, In These Times: "Workers at Palermo's
Pizza have been on strike for two weeks. They say they chose to strike after
Palermo's met their efforts to form a union with threats and retaliation,
including the use of immigration enforcement as a weapon. Slogans include 'No
Justice, No Piece.' On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set a
union election for July 6."
Read the Article

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 15, 2012 at 17:09

Hello, everyone--

Please come together to honor the Congress Hotel
strikers!

What::Strikers at the Congress Hotel, joined
by hundreds of community supporters and members of UNITE HERE Local 1, are
rallying outside of the Congress Hotel to commemorate the 9th Anniversary of the
Congress Hotel Strike, the longest hotel strike in American
history.

Who: Congress Hotel Strikers and hundreds of
community supporters

When: Friday, June 15, 2012, 4 to 6
pm

Where: In front of the Congress Hotel, Congress and
Michigan

Why: On June 15, 2003, members of UNITE HERE Local 1
working at the Congress Hotel went out on strike after the hotel decided to
freeze wages, refused to pay healthcare premiums for its employees (effectively
eliminating employee healthcare benefits), and demanded the ability to
subcontract out all bargaining unit work at the hotel.

More: Watch
the great video below.

We in the single-payer movement are fighting to
take healthcare off the bargaining table. Only a single-payer healthcare
system, Medicare for All, for Life, will do that. Meanwhile, UNITE HERE supports
single-payer healthcare. Let's support and celebrate the UNITE HERE hotel
workers.

See you there!

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 11, 2012 at 16:25

 

URGENT: Act now for Mahmoud Sarsak on 84th day of hunger strike; Pa...

Poster for Mahmoud Sarsak by Hafez Omar

As European soccer stars compete in the European Championship, the eyes of the world must turn to a soccer star at urgent risk of death: Palestinian national team member Mahmoud Sarsak, 25, has been imprisoned under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatants Law” – the only prisoner so held – without charge or trial – for three years. Sarsak, from Gaza, traveled to the West Bank to join the Palestinian national soccer team for training. Upon his arrival he was abducted by the Israeli occupation military and since that time has been held in Israeli jails, subject to this special version of administrative detention designed especially for Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip. Take action now – send a letter to Israeli officials demanding his ...

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 11, 2012 at 16:24

TWEET NOW: Free #FootballsHero #MahmoudSarsak from Israeli prison – no charge,...

Mahmoud Sarsak launched his own hunger strike demanding freedom following the strikes of administrative detainees Khader Adnan and Hana’ Shalabi, on March 19 of this year. He was joined by thousands of other Palestinian prisoners on April 17. When the prisoners’ general open hunger strike ended on May 14 with an agreement, Sarsak continued his strike; his situation was particularly precarious due to the unique form of administrative detention under which he is held.

According to Physicians for Human Rights and Addameer,

Despite the urgency of his condition, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has denied Mahmoud access to independent doctors from PHR-Israel until today. The IPS also refuses to transfer him to a civilian hospital for proper treatment. Following today’s visit, the PHR-Israel doctor reported that Mahmoud has experienced extreme loss of muscle tissue and drastic weight loss. He has lost 33 percent of his body weight, from an original weight of 76 kilos down to his present weight of 51 kilos. He also suffers from frequent incidents of fainting and loss of consciousness, in addition to lapses in memory. The doctor further reported that Mahmoud is in danger of pulse disruptions (arrhythmias) that are endangering his life.

Palestinian human rights organizations have urgently called for international action and solidarity for Mahmoud Sarsak – and for his fellow continuing hunger strikers, Akram Al-Rikhawi, on his 57th day of hunger strike, and Samer al-Barq, who renewed his hunger strike (following his participation in the April 17-May 14 general strike) on May 21 in protest of Israeli continual violations of the agreement - rather than being released as promised, his administrative detention was renewed.

Sarsak and Rikhawi have released a letter to the world, calling for action on their cases, as translated by the Electronic Intifada:

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 11, 2012 at 16:23

This is an urgent and final distress call from captivity, slow and programmed death inside the cells of so-called Ramle Prison hospital, that you know that your sons and brothers are still struggling against death and you pay no attention to them and do not remember their cause – as if, after the end of the general strike all the demands of the prisoners were met.

We are still here, continuing our open-ended hunger strike and that battle has not endeddespite 78 days of strike for one of us, and 59 days for the other.

Regretfully, we thought that you would support us in our hunger strike, but instead you have stood on our wounds and our pain.

From here, we cry out to you, to our brothers, to dignified people, that you bear your responsibility, for after God, we have no one but you and the freedom loving people of the world to bring victory to our cause.

Second: As the hunger strike continues to erode our bodies and sap what is left of our strength, we cry out to you to help us in our battle on every level and field, local, regional and international, especially in the media, and especially Palestinian television which represents the Palestinian people.

And also in the newspapers, radio and electronic media, so that our voices can reach the freedom loving people of the world and expose this entity, and for the victory of our cause.

We say: there is still enough time and the support that comes late is better than that which does not come at all. It is better that you receive us alive and victorious rather than as lifeless bodies in black bags.

Therefore we two hunger strikers remain on our strike, Mahmoud Sarsak who has endured 78 days, and Sheikh Akram Rikhawi who has endured 59 days and was already ill, having spent 8 years in Ramle Prison clinic suffering from illnesses, and who now struggles against death.

We inform you that we will remain on our strike until all our demands are met and we will not submit to the demands of the Prison Service regardless of what we suffer in restrictions, provocations, and bargaining, and we will not accept promises and half-measures despite the deterioration of our health and our entry into difficult and dangerous situations, especially since we have lost more than 25kg and 18kg.

Our people, our leaders in Gaza, in the West Bank and outside, and freedom loving people of the world, we cry out to you, and to all people in the world who believe in the justice of our cause: do not abandon us to the vindictive hands of the jailers to take what they want from our frail bodies.

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 11, 2012 at 16:22

You are the ones able to support us for victory in our battle.

Your brothers who remain on hunger strike until victory or martrydom,

Mahmoud Sarsak Akram Rikhawi

Sarsak’s family has also joined in a video call for his freedom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qhF3AUaKgX0

Protests have taken place across Europe and more action is urgently needed. As the world’s eyes are on the best in soccer, take action for a true football hero – Mahmoud Sarsak – whose life is on the line for his freedom, and for dignity and justice for all Palestinians.

TAKE ACTION!

1. Sign a letter demanding the Israeli state transfer Mahmoud Sarsak, ... Tell the Israeli Prison Services that the world is watching! Click here to sign.

2. Join a protest or demonstration for Palestinian prisoners. Many groups and organizations are holding events – join one or announce your own. Organizing an event, action or forum on Palestinian prisoners on your city or campus? Use this form to contact us and we will post the event widely. If you need suggestions, materials or speakers for your event, please contact us at samidoun@samidoun.ca.

3. Contact your government officials and demand an end to international silence and complicity with the repression of Palestinian political prisoners. In Canada, Call the office of John Baird, Foreign Minister, and demand an end to Canadian support for Israel and justice for Palestinian prisoners, at : 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca. In the US, call the office of Elizabeth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209). Demand that Elizabeth Jones bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel.

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