Independent Philadelphia Security Officers Union Wins First Union Contract at the Museum of Art

By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on April 20th, 2011

After four years of organizing, officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art employed by AlliedBarton Security Services have a union contract!  The agreement, ratified by a majority of guards on April 18th, will increase wages by 14.5% over the life of the 3-year contract and will institute a grievance procedure and a seniority system.

“We are proud that our 4 year struggle has resulted in a better quality of life for our coworkers and families,” says Donald Lindsey, President of the union.

The union mounted a public pressure campaign which engaged supportive city council members, the Philadelphia labor movement, student activists, Jobs with Justice, and dozens of local faith leaders to win their victory against the nation’s second-largest security company.

Security guards are prevented from joining most labor unions due to the Section 9 (B) 3 of the National Labor Relations Act.  This clause of the National Labor Relations Act states that security guards must join “security guard only unions,” of which there are few.

On October 10, 2009, the Continue reading Independent Philadelphia Security Officers Union Wins First Union Contract at the Museum of Art

Purple Lunch in Solidarity with Sodexo Workers at Regis University

Come out Tomorrow (4/19) and wear purple and bring a brown bag lunch to show solidarity and with Sodexo workers. Lets show our workers how much we appreciate them and our willingness to stand up for social justice.

Student Labor Action Project and Colorado Jobs with Justice will be out in full support of Regis Students & Workers.

Regis University Dining Hall (3333 Regis Boulevard, Denver, CO)

The Dining Hall is in the Student Center near 51st Ave and Lowell Blvd.

Link to the facebook event:  http://goo.gl/XBumj

Colorado Stands Ground to Maintain Workers Rights

by Toni Fresquez
Posted on El Seminario 04-06-2011

In 1968, Martin Luther King went to Memphis to support the Sanitation workers’ struggle to earn a living wage. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in the midst of a battle for dignity for those public employees. Decades later, in response to attacks by ultra-conservative governors, the struggle for workers’ rights is spreading from union workers in states like Wisconsin to Americans who just want the chance find a job and earn a decent living.

Several of Denver’s prominent union forces -- Colorado Jobs with Justice, Service Employees International Union, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Communications Workers of America -- assembled along with students and community members who marched throughout downtown Denver on Monday, participating in a national ‘We Are One’ themed rally to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of Rev. King’s last speech and assassination. 

The march ended at the Auraria Campus in Denver with an energetic rally featuring various human rights advocates carrying signs with bold slogans, some holding brooms and mops high symbolizing the depths of the service industry workers – who make up 90% of the nations workforce, according to recent research.

In conjunction with the March, the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) coordinated a student “walk-out” to attend the events on campus, and to send a message of solidarity with workers.

Curious students gathered around the rally to listen to the scheduled speakers, learning first-hand on the necessity of a renewed movement.

“We are going to take back as a movement what is rightfully ours, the power and prestige of this great nation,” stated Prior Kieran of St. Dunstan's Priory in Denver, an ecumenical order of Benedictines. 
Citing prose from late civil rights leaders, Prior Kiernan recalled Rev. King’s quote, “‘Faith is never voluntary given by the oppressor it must be demanded by the oppressed.’ Today we demand our rights, we demand our rights to organize, to bargain to not only have a say, but to have a majority say in what is produced in this great nation of ours.

“I had the honor and privilege to be arrested with my friends and companions as part of The Denver 14 last June, by the time we got out of jail we were announced in over 200 places in this great nation of ours -- so I thought I should tell the head of my order,” explained Prior Kiernan. “I’ve always believed in the old Jesuit axiom that it is better to pray for forgiveness than to ask permission. So I didn’t ask permission to go to jail, I went jail because it was the right thing to do.

“So I called the head of my religious order, I said ‘Brother Abbott I have something to tell you. I was arrested and its’ been in all of the papers so you are probably going to hear about it.’ He asked, ‘Brother why were you arrested?’ I said I was arrested to protest the immigration policy or lack thereof, at the federal level in this country. He immediately answered back, ‘Oh Brother don’t you worry about a thing, I was with César in the fields in the sixties.’”

Prior Kiernan offered a quote from César Chávez, “‘You cannot oppress a people who are not afraid anymore.’ We have seen the future, and the future is ours; and in the words of Dolores Huerta and César Chávez – Yes we can, Si Se Puede,” he said to a resounding applause.

Guest speaker Nita Gonzales, CEO of the Escuela Tlatelolco Centro de Estudios offered an uplifting speech at the Campus ‘teach-in", "Mil gracias to all of you who heard the call and stand together today. I stand here today with each and every one of you in the spirit of my father Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. In Denver Colorado we weren't waiting for superman – we had our superman in Corky Gonzales. Who thankfully lived a life that gave me the advantage of not only meeting César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, but marching, organizing rallies and supporting the work and struggle for human rights for this nations farmworkers, for human rights and for work that is not yet finished; and it isn't finished and we marched today because of that. We march in the spirit of our ancestors who overcame fear and injustice who struggled and died because they chose to live as free human beings who walked the talk.

“Chavez and Huerta grasped the essential task – organize, organize, organize – his legacy and that of my father Corky Gonzales is one of action, not words, not promises that are not kept – but action. Mobilization against injustice hatred, mobilize, unionize, so that all workers can reap the fruit of their labor,” said Gonzales to her captive audience.

“Let me teach you something about our homeland, we’ve always been here, this is our homeland, we will always be here. So let me remind you of that. We stand here today in honor of the memory of those nineteen who died right here in Colorado at Ludlow. Do you remember that? April 20, 1914? The United Mine Workers stood up against the Rockefeller corporations – they weren’t fearful. What are we afraid of,” challenged Gonzales.


“In the spirit of César Chávez, Emiliano Zapata, Dolores Huerta, Cuauhtémoc – learn those names – Crazy Heart, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr…people of destiny of courage, of sacrifice and vision. This is a global struggle for rights for all people and we must remember that this work is not yet done. Our nation continues to wage war upon its own working class and people, the powers that be make themselves richer by exploiting everyone of us – workers, middle class, poor, - in the words of Dr. King, I love these words, ‘There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression,’” quoted Gonzales.


“We are tired of being trampled, we have to stand up, stop being fearful. We need more marches, we need thousands of people blocking the streets. Nothing in the development in the history of this country regarding justice and human rights came because some President or Congress thought it was the right thing to do – it came because people marched in the streets like we do today.


“In the words of my father, he said ‘no one has the right to oppress people and all oppressed people have the right to a revolution.’ So let us send a message today, workers rights are human rights, we stand unified and tell the people of Colorado we are not Wisconsin and united we stand and united we will win,” proclaimed Gonzales.

Dock workers shut down ports in solidarity with Wisconsin struggle

by Dave Welsh 

Wednesday Apr 6th, 2011 11:50 AM

The power of workers to bring production to a halt was on dramatic display April 4th, when longshore workers of ILWU Local 10 shut down the ports of Oakland and San Francisco for 24 hours, in solidarity with the heroic struggles in Wisconsin. The big container port of Oakland was deader than a doornail Monday at 6:00 a.m. I saw a long snake-line of trucks bearing shipping containers idled on the roadway. The shipping cranes were all “standing at attention” – i.e., not working any containers. The dock workers stayed away, and no cargo was worked on any shift Monday in Oakland or San Francisco.
“This was a voluntary rank and file action – an organized act of resistance,” said Clarence Thomas, Lo.10 exec board member. 

Oakland, CA, April 4, 2011 - The power of workers to bring production to a halt was on dramatic display April 4th, when longshore workers of ILWU Local 10 shut down the ports of Oakland and San Francisco for 24 hours, in solidarity with the heroic struggles in Wisconsin. 

The big container port of Oakland was deader than a doornail Monday at 6:00 a.m. I saw a long snake-line of trucks bearing shipping containers idled on the roadway. The shipping cranes were all “standing at attention” – i.e., not working any containers. [These are same Port of Oakland cranes that gave George Lucas the idea for some of his “Star Wars” imagery.]

The ILWU hiring hall was practically deserted at dispatch time for the night shift, leaving several hundred jobs unfilled. The dock workers stayed away, and no cargo was worked on any shift Monday in Oakland or San Francisco.

The rank-and-file-initiated shutdown was part of nationwide actions on April 4th to challenge the draconian budget cuts and union busting in Wisconsin and other states.

An “organized act of resistance” by rank-and-file dock workers

“This was a voluntary rank and file action – an organized act of resistance,” said Clarence Thomas, a dock worker and Local 10 executive board member.

“It is significant that the action by Local 10 was taken in solidarity with Wisconsin public sector workers who are facing the loss of collective bargaining,” Thomas said. He pointed out that April 4th is also the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – who was killed in Memphis demanding collective bargaining for sanitation workers in that city.

“So we’ve come full circle,” he concluded. The Memphis public workers got their union, after a two-month strike. Now 40 years later their Wisconsin counterparts are threatened with losing theirs. But it is Wisconsin’s “fierce resistance that is inspiring all of us today.”

It is not surprising that the 24-hour port work stoppage came out of International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10, a racially diverse, predominantly African American local, and the home local of legendary labor leader Harry Bridges. Martin Luther King was named an honorary member of Local 10, six months before he was killed.

Oakland teachers shut down Wells Fargo Bank for 3 hours on Apr. 4

The Oakland Education Association has been facing crippling attacks on the public school system - including layoff notices for 600 of their members. When the April 4th Day of Action arrived, the OEA chose to protest at Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Oakland, demanding “Bail out schools, not banks.”

About 100 teachers and supporters chanted, marched and sat down at the bank entrance, effectively shutting down the bank for three hours. They set up a makeshift classroom in the bank plaza to teach about the key role of the banks in bringing on today’s economic crisis. OEA President Betty Olson-Jones pointed out that Wells Fargo received a $50 Billion federal bailout, and the people chanted: “Banks took our money…Now give it to the schools!”

Protesters took turns at the bullhorn:

1. They demanded that workers' jobs, pensions, schools & social services must be safeguarded before one cent of interest is paid to the banks and wealthy bond investors. Which has priority, they asked: Profits for the wealthy, or our children’s future?

2. They highlighted Wells Fargo's role in the foreclosure epidemic – affecting many families of district school children – and demand a moratorium on foreclosures, so families can stay in their homes. An OEA press release said Wells Fargo must "stop foreclosures and lower mortgage debt to reflect homes' reduced market value."

The Bail out the People Movement organized demonstrations Monday at Wells Fargo branches in Los Angeles and Baltimore, in solidarity with the teachers’ action in Oakland. Wells Fargo is based in California, with their main headquarters in San Francisco. 

ELM - National Conference to Build Unity in the Labor Movement & Defeat the Corporate Agenda

200+ Denver Students Stage Walkout for Labor & Education

By Chris Hicks, on April 8th, 2011

On Monday, April 4^th, over 200 students from University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver participated in a walkout and rally in support of labor and education.   The action was in conjunction with the April 4^th “We Are One” National Day of Action that SLAP, Jobs with Justice, and United States Student Association all actively participated in as a response to the recent attack on workers and students across the country.

In Colorado, two anti-worker bills earlier this February:

• Senate Bill 12, by Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, would have prohibited public entities from collectively bargaining with a labor union, or an employee association from acting as a bargaining agent for public employees.
• Senate Bill 38, by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, would have prohibited an employee organization from being officially recognized as the exclusive representative of state employees, barred the state from negotiating with an employee organization to create an employee partnership agreement, and terminated any existing partnership agreements.

At a time when workers’ rights are under attack around the country, many students have provided the spark for protest and fighting back. Students in Denver saw the direct impact these laws will have on them and their own livelihood, which inspired them to walk out.

Speakers at the rally came from different backgrounds and issues, but showed how our movement must unite as one in order to protect all rights. The speakers from the rally came from local radio stations, students who identify as LGBTQ, anti-war, immigrant rights, education reform, and labor. The theme of the speakers was shared struggle, shared identity, and how we must begin to view ourselves within our own communities: “We Are One”!

Learn more about SLAP.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Russell Bannan
Colorado Jobs with Justice
864-978-9374
rpbannan@gmail.com

APRIL 4TH “DAY OF ACTION” EVENTS WILL BRING TOGETHER UNIONS, ORGANIZATIONS, STUDENTS AND ACTIVISTS TO DEMAND SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Commemorating 43rd Anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Last Speech and Assassination

Labor unions, progressive organizations, community leaders and higher education students will join together Monday, April 4th in several Colorado cities at rallies, marches, teach-ins and walk-outs to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and to demand political and economic justice for all people.

Denver, CO, April 3, 2011 – College students, union members, organization leaders, community activists and others will join together on Monday, April 4, 2011, to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s march for sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by his famous last “Promised Land” speech, and assassination on April 4th, 1968.

A Justice for Janitors (SEIU) march will begin at 17th and California streets and will conclude at Tivoli Square (SW corner of Tivoli between the King Center and the Plaza Building) in Denver for a “Teach-in”. From 12:15 – 2:00pm, a panel of community leaders representing labor, immigration, education, civil rights, the inter-faith community, and other areas will speak about worker’s rights and social justice. AM760 Progressive Talk Radio’s Mario Solis-Marich will emcee the event and introduce speakers, including DeFENSE Denver’s Andrea Merida (also a Denver Public Schools Board Member), Benedictine Monk Brother David Garner, and keynote speaker KGNU radio talk show host and Civil Rights leader, Shareef Aleem.

The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) has coordinated a student “walk-out” to attend the events on campus, and to send a message of solidarity with workers.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) will also hold a rally from 1:00-3:00 pm at 17th and Esplanade in City Park, near the MLK statue, to protest the Dex Corporation outsourcing American jobs. An evening Rally and Candlelight Vigil to honor workers, organized by Colorado AFL-CIO, will begin at 5:30pm at City Park Band Shell, on the east side of Ferrell Lake (near E. 17th and Steele Street entrance). Meanwhile, similar events will be held in Colorado Springs and other cities.

Labor unions around the United States are organizing politically in response to recent events in Wisconsin and Michigan, where Republican governors are attempting to take away collective bargaining rights of workers and to drastically cut public education.

The march, rallies, teach-in and walk-out have been organized by a grassroots coalition of labor unions and community groups including the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Colorado Immigrant Rights Association (CIRC), Colorado Jobs With Justice, New Era Colorado, and Progressive Outreach Colorado, MoveOn.org and others. Teach-In speakers will include representatives from the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA), Colorado Young Workers (CYW), Democrats for Excellent Neighborhood School Education (DeFENSE Denver), Politically Active Ztudents (PAZ), Escuela Tlatelolco, and others.

The events have been promoted on radio, on the Auraria campus, and through on-line social media including facebook, twitter and email.

For more information, please contact Russell Bannan at 864-978-9374 or rpbannan@gmail.com.

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Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers’ rights. Around the country, local Jobs with Justice Coalitions unite labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations to build power for working people.