Boycott & Strike!

Add a Comment

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 29, 2012 at 18:32

Support Striking Recycling Workers at Waste Management!

End the Privatization of Public Services!

 

The Kshama Sawant campaign for Washington State House stands in complete solidarity with the recycling workers of the private sanitation firm, Waste Management. The 153 recycle and yard waste drivers unanimously voted to authorize a strike after Waste Management committed a series of labor law violations, including coercing and direct dealing with its employees, threatening to retaliate against workers, and unilaterally changing working conditions, according to Teamsters Local 117.

In a tremendous show of solidarity and effective trade unionism, the garbage-truck drivers in Teamsters Local 174 who signed a contract with Waste Management a few months ago, have been honoring the picket lines of the recycle and yard waste drivers in Teamsters Local 117.

The city of Seattle, and more broadly the Northwest, takes pride in leading the nation in recycling and composting. However, the dark underbelly of recycling and related services is the relentless privatization of the industry and the systematic violation of labor rights.

Sanitation work, which includes garbage and recycling pickup and deposit, ranks as the fifth most dangerous job in the country.

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 29, 2012 at 18:32

 Drivers deal with rats, maggots, used syringes, chemicals, and rotting meat on a daily basis. Since 2005, four Puget Sound recycle workers have been killed on the job

This is not the first time this is happening. Sanitation workers have been engaged in an ongoing struggle against Waste Management. In 2007, for example, the corporation engaged in similar anti-labor tactics before locking out 500 striking workers in Oakland for almost a month. The company is notorious for frequent violations of labor and health and safety laws, and for its wanton disregard for worker safety.

The  Sawant campaign also points out, however, that Waste Management is not an isolated corporation that exploits workers. It is a part of a long process of privatizing public services and undermining worker rights. Privatization of public services gives corporations free reign to pocket huge profits, while workers and ordinary people are faced with lower wages and a gutting of unionized jobs, dangerous working conditions, higher prices, and worse service.

We urge the community, the labor movement, Occupy, and civil rights organizations to mobilize actively in support of the striking workers. "Workers and ordinary people need to stand by the Teamsters and put pressure on Waste Management to end the exploitation of sanitation workers. We also must demand an end to the privatization of public services. Seattle government should not be contracting out to anti-union companies like Waste Management and instead should be organizing sanitation as part of a democratically run public utility," Sawant said.

The Kshama Sawant campaign also recently expressed its solidarity with Davis Wire workers, also members of Teamsters 117, who are striking against sweatshop conditions at their factory in Kent. Sawant said, "This is ultimately the way capitalism works. When you have a system that is geared for the profit of the few as opposed to fulfilling the needs of the people, workers' wages and workplace safety are placed on the chopping block. We need to end corporate rule and make the state of Washington work for its people, not for big business and the richest 1%."

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Visit www.SeattleTrashWatch.org and sign up.
• Text TRASH to 206-535-1859 for updates and information.
• Call 1-800-230-7418 to report trash, yard waste, or recycle service disruptions.

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 29, 2012 at 0:52

Chicago Teachers Win a Round on Longer Day, But Strike Planning Continues     

Member mobilization bore fruit Tuesday when Chicago teachers made Mayor Rahm "1%" Emanuel back down on demands for work longer hours. The victory comes as the longer school day has become all the rage among reformers, with corporate foundations and the Obama administration pushing it.

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 27, 2012 at 4:47

HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST LANL CONTINUES

On Monday the 16th of July about 20 people were at the Los Alamos
peace vigil to kick off the activities for the NukeFreeNow.org Summer of
Disarmament, and the next major public actions for nuclear abolition in
New Mexico are August 3-6th. During the past two weeks about three dozen
people have joined the hunger strike, including Marcus Page-Collonge of
Trinity House Catholic Worker in Albuquerque. Marcus can be found daily
at Yale Park holding a peace vigil at the well-known site of UnOccupy
Albuquerque's past encampments. He is subsisting on seven tablespoons of
honey and seven tablespoons of apple cider vinegar daily. Marcus' fast
for peace lasts seven days, in commemoration of the seven decades since
the nuclear age began with the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project
led to the creation of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the
town of Los Alamos.

"Our fasting and hunger strike focuses on LANL because LANL continues
their twin traditions of POISONING this bio-region, and NUCLEAR
TERRORISM, which keeps the world in obedience to the political goals of
the USA," says Marcus Page-Collonge of Albuquerque's Catholic Worker
Movement. Catholic Workers and other pacifist Christians tend to believe
that the billions of dollars poured into nuclear weapons activities
represents a commitment to nuclear weapons unlike other human endeavors
in history. The permanent contamination of the environment and the fear
of nuclear annihilation are two aspects of nuclearism which Trinity
House Catholic Workers have called a widespread "spiritual sickness".

On the 16th of July a handful of people stopped eating because it was
the 67th anniversary since the Trinity bomb was detonated in New Mexico,
and the 33rd anniversary since the uranium spill contaminated New Mexico
and Arizona*. More hunger strikers join each week. Alaric Balibrera is
not eating for at least three weeks--until Hiroshima Day and Nagasaki
Day. Alaric grew up in Los Alamos decades ago, and conducts public
vigils for peace in Santa Fe and in Los Alamos four times weekly, until
his demands are met. Alaric has not eaten since July 16th, and Marcus
has not eaten since July 23rd.

See the TNA news on the upcoming LANL vigils here:
http://tna.lovarchy.org/NEWSagain/R60.html

Marcus will be in Las Cruces on Saturday the 29th (Day 6 for Marcus'
hunger strike). TNA invites peace-minded folks to come to Los Alamos on
August 5th; the more the merrier! Help create a nuclear-weapons free
world!

* New Mexico's "Nuclear Disasters Day" is so-named because of the
Trinity nuclear bomb's detonation in 1945 and the Church Rock uranium
spill of 1979. Both nuclear disasters (the intentional bomb and the
accidental spill) contaminated the region with radioactive poisons, and
both began on July 16th at precisely 5:30 AM.

Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy conducts a 40-day fast each year,
starting July 1st and ending on Nagasaki Day (August 9th). WagingPeace
and KPFK have covered the strike already. Alaric's strike requests are
here: http://nukefreenow.org/?page_id=107
In Albuquerque, we'll post updates here:
http://trinityhouse.catholicworker.biz/nuclear

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 27, 2012 at 4:30

Greek Steel Workers Strike: 264 days of struggle

The stance of the Greek steel workers who remain on strike for nine months consists an example of solid and courageous struggle against capitalist barbarism

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 26, 2012 at 17:57

Spanish Miners light up Madrid and show workers the way to struggle...

By John Hird, CWI Spain

Thousands of coal miners arrived in Madrid, last week, completing another march on the capital as part of the struggle to defend their jobs. They were greeted by thousands of workers and youth from Madrid who poured onto the streets to express their solidarity. Fire-fighters escorted the miners through Madrid, stripping off in front of the parliament to show their solidarity.

On the same day that the miners arrived, Rajoy and the right wing PP government announced a revised budget. According to commentators, this will include the worst cuts since 1956 when Spain was under Franco's fascist dictatorship. Read more...

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 17, 2012 at 16:44

Boycott Palermo's, Say Milwaukee
Pizza Factory Strikers

Wisconsin unions were denied a lengthy mourning of last month's recall results when immigrant workers at Palermo's Pizza factory walked out to demand r.... Their strike is galvanizing the Milwaukee labor community.

Comment by Joe Balkis on July 1, 2012 at 19:09

Teamster Sympathy Strikes Defeat Lockout A series of one-day sympathy strikes by Teamsters in five cities across the country helped convince the waste-hauler Republic Services to back off a six-week lockout of its workers in Evansville, Indiana.

Hunger Strikers Target Congress For Starving the Postal Service Postal and community activists held a hunger strike this week to protest cuts that could devastate the Post Office. They called on Congress to reverse the $5 billion burden lawmakers put on the Postal Service.

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 27, 2012 at 17:55

• Press_Release_Chicago.doc
• Updated_ChicagoRally.pdf

MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release Contact: Mack Julion 773-620-2016 mjulion@nalc11.org Melissa Rakestraw 847-466-3786 melissarakestraw@me.com

Comment by Joe Balkis on June 27, 2012 at 17:54

Chicago Solidarity Rally for Hunger Strike to Save Our Post Office   Postal Workers and concerned citizens will be holding a Solidarity Rally in Support of the 10 hunger strikers currently in DC calling on Congress to Stop Starving the Post Office.   Who: Concerned Citizens, Community groups, labor organizations and postal employees   What: Solidarity Rally   Where: Federal Plaza, Adams and Dearborn   When: Thursday, June 28, 4:30-6:30pm   4:30pm- Rally will kick-off with informational picketing and flyer distribution.   5:00pm- Speakers address real issues behind USPS fiscal woes. They will focus on Congress repealing the pre-funding mandate to retiree healthcare accounts and refunding the $60-80 Billion pension surplus. They will call on Postmaster General Donahoe to suspend ALL cuts and closures until Congress can repeal the pre-funding mandate and refund the pension surplus. Urgent Congressional action is required to prevent Donahoe from ending single piece first class overnight mail delivery on July, 1 along with his plan to shutter at least 48 processing plants by Sept.1.   The Hunger Strike is being coordinated by Communities and Postal Workers United a national grassroots network committed to Saving the Post Office. http://cpwunited.com/press-release

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• …
• 19
• Next ›
• Page