News :: Labor & Economics

Service Workers Stage One Day Strike Against UC

15 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by V-Man

A one day strike was staged Thursday, April 14, at the nine University of California campuses, and five medical centers, by AFSCME service workers demanding better pay, advancement opportunities and a stop to hiring discrimination. Members of other unions, including the IWW, CUE, UAW, UPTE, and AFT were out in solidarity to support the strikers. Santa Cruz Metro bus drivers honored Thursday's picket lines, refusing to bring students onto campus. Scabs were brought in for some jobs, while other workers also crossed the lines citing financial hardship. Contract talks continue next week in Oakland.

Audio from FRSC: UC Strike update 10am || UC Strike update 11am || UCSC Shutdown! afternoon audio updates || UCSC Strike update Final || Rockin' the Boat: UC Service Workers Strike for One-day

Photos: AM Strike, East Gate || Workers, Students and Community Shut Down UC Santa Cruz || Bay and High is Not an Entrance to UC Santa Cruz || Service Workers Strike at UCSC: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Video: UC Santa Cruz. We Shut it Down!

 

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News :: Government & Elections : Peace & War

SC City Council: Start Bringing The Troops Home Now

15 Apr 2005

by Hiraeth .

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News :: Gender & Sexuality : Globalization & Capitalism : Labor & Economics

Special Issue of The Project for Statewide Strikes at UC on April 14th

13 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by The Project Collective

The Project Collective has put together a little primer on the upcoming strike by service (represented by the AFSCME union) and clerical (the CUE union) workers on April 14th. We hope this paper helps to clarify the issues faced by the workers and the ways in which these issues are connected to student concerns.

As members of the UCSC community, we are concerned and upset when some among us are denied the means to achieve reasonable living standards, and continually treated with disrespect by their high-profile employer. The mistreatment of CUE and AFSCME workers is an offense to the values we hold as a community: gender and racial justice, and wages that enable everyone to live with dignity. Supporting service and clerical workers in their fight for fair contracts is a crucial part of realizing these values.

Moreover, we recognize that the same skewed budget priorities resulting in poverty wages for campus clerical and service workers are also responsible for our diminished funding opportunities. Graduate students, campus workers, undergraduates, and faculty all have a common concern: UC’s undemocratic budgetary process and the gross mal-distribution that results. Behind the crass injunction to ‘fuck the regents’ is stealth analytic accuracy.

In this issue: STRIKE 101: basic facts you should know | CUE: The Coalition of University Employees (i.e. The Clerical Union) | AFSCME: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (i.e. The Service Worker Union) | University of California: non-profit or corporate money maker? | Statewide Day Of Action April 20th | Map of UCSC Strike Zone for April 14th

See also: Making Sense of the UCSC Crisis | Student Speakout @ The Strike | FuckTheRegents.com

 

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News :: Peace & War

UCSC Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus

09 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by UCSC Students Against War

On April 5, about 300 UC Santa Cruz students led by Students Against War (SAW) kicked Army, Navy and Marine Corps recruiters out of the annual Career Center Job Fair, marking yet another success for the nation-wide counter-military recruitment campaign. (Call to Action!)

Joined by Watsonville’s Brown Berets, SAW protesters gathered for a rally at the campus bookstore and occupied the streets in a traffic-stopping procession up to the Stevenson Event Center where the Job Fair was being held. Students were motivated by fiery speeches about the racist, sexist, classist and heterosexist biases of the military, all of which are in violation of the UC Santa Cruz’s non-discrimination policies.

As the march began, a small group of students infiltrated the Job Fair and surrounded recruiter’s tables, chanting and linking arms. This small group was soon joined by more students from the march who pushed their way through front and side doors, chanting, “Whose Campus? Our Campus!� as Job Fair administrations attempted to literally shove them out the door.

Ultimately, 100 students were able to surround recruiters’ tables while the remaining 200 marchers stayed outside the Event Center, blocking the entrances and chanting in support of those on the inside.

Audio: FRSC: Santa Cruz Kicks out the Marines!! | FSRN: Military Recruiters Forced From UCSC | RTB: UCSC Counter-recruitment Protest | Anti Military Recruitment PSA | Mumia Abu Jamal: Harder and Harder to Recruit

Photos: Military Recruiters Off Campus 1 | 2 | 3 | UCSC Kicks OUT Military

Reportback and Photos from the Inside: UCSC Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus

 

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Announcement :: Alternative Media : Civil & Human Rights : Globalization & Capitalism : Government & Elections : Labor & Economics : Media Criticism : Peace & War : Resistance & Tactics

Dahr Jamail: "Live from Baghdad"

07 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by Vinny L

Dahr Jamail will be speaking in Santa Cruz at the Veteran's Memorial Building on Saturday, April 9 at 7pm. Tickets available at the door on a $5-$10 sliding scale. Noone turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds will benefit Dahr Jamail's ongoing effort to continue providing independent reports from Iraq.

Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq, Dahr Jamail went there to report on the war himself. One of the few unembedded reporters on the ground in Iraq, his dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media resource for a ground-level view of the war. Dahr spent a total of eight months in occupied Iraq.

Part of Dahr's April 9th presentation at the Vet's Hall, is a slideshow, including many graphic images, of what some commentators consider to be US war crimes. Dahr will also be screening a new film he's put together.

Audio: Dahr Jamial Event Audio PSA | Dahr Jamail on Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM

See Also: Dahr Jamail: Untold Horrors of Fallujah

 

Announcement :: Education & Youth

Action Tuesday to Kick Military Recruiters Out of UCSC!

04 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by UCSC Counter-Recruitment

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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Education & Youth : Labor & Economics

Cesar Chavez Celebrations in the Monterey Bay Area

04 Apr 2005

by featurizer

A March 31st Cesar Chavez celebration dinner benefit for the Davenport Resource Services Center, brought 150 mole contest tasters to Mission Church for an evening of good food, laughter, music, story telling and a film preview of “Latinos Finding their Place on the North Coast.�
Invitation to the Celebration: en español and in english

In the Watsonville city-center plaza, 63 Brown Beret members and friends celebrated the Chavez birthday holiday with a Youth Empowerment Rally featuring youth spokespersons, local politicians and representatives from support organizations.
Photos: The People Celebrate Chavez Birthday in Santa Cruz and Watsonville

On April 2nd, over 3,000 people staged a 3 mile march through downtown Salinas in Central California’s fertile Salinas Valley to protest government budget cuts that will permanently close the city’s three public libraries. Demonstrators chanted: ¡Libros Si! ¡Bombas No! (Book yes! Bombs no!) ¡Si, Se Puede! (Yes we can!), and ¡Viva Chavez! as they snaked their way through poor neighborhoods to the Cesar Chavez Public Library. The libraries are the city’s community centers, where farm worker’s children can study, use computers, and wait after school until their parents come home from the fields. Read more...
Photos: Cesar Chavez honored in Salinas, la lucha sigue...

 

News :: Arts & Culture : Education & Youth

Book Lovers From All Over California Join Salinas Locals in a Historic “24-HOUR READ-IN�

01 Apr 2005 (Updated)

by featurized

In an effort to save Salinas, California’s public library system, which is slated to shut down because of budget shortfalls, dozens of authors, community activists, and supporters organized an Emergency 24-hour “Read-In� outside the Cesar Chavez Public Library in Salinas, from Saturday, April 2 at 1pm to Sunday, April 3 at 1pm. Then at 1pm on Sunday, the Read-In merged with the annual Cesar Chavez March and Holiday Celebrations.

“We’re telling people to bring their tents, sleeping bags and favorite books. We’ll be here all day and all night to show our determination to keep our libraries open,� says Efren Barajas of United Farmworkers of America, one of the groups organizing the read-in.

The read-in included actor Hector Elizondo; poets Gary Soto and Jose Montoya; community leaders Dolores Huerta and Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero; musician Dr. Loco; and writers Maxine Hong Kingston, Riane Eisler, James Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Jack Kornfield, Meredith Maran, and Wes “Scoop� Nisker, among others. In addition to the read-a-thon there was also music, movies, children’s activities, and an overnight camp-out.

Salinas is one of hundreds of communities throughout the United States whose libraries systems are facing severe cutbacks or elimination. According to the American Library Association, projected and announced library funding cuts have topped $111.2 million in the last 18 months, and almost every single state in the U.S. is facing library funding cuts of up to 50 percent.

Audio: Interview with Peter Kwiek of the Salinas Action League | Mike Farrell

Photo Coverage: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Read More: Raza Work to Stop Library Closings | Chicken Soup for the Soul

Previous Coverage: Salinas Public Libraries will Close in the New Year
Audio: Salinas City Concil Votes to Shutter Libraries

[ Salinas Action League | Save Salinas Libraries! | CodePink's Actions Page | Governor Schwarzenegger, SAVE OUR LIBRARIES! ]

 

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News :: Animal Rights

Animal Rights Activist Peter Young is in the San Jose Jail and He Needs Our Support

01 Apr 2005

by featurizer

Peter Young was arrested on March 21st in San Jose, CA. He has been "WANTED" since 1998 after being indicted on charges of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act by releasing mink from five Midwestern fur farms.

Peter's support website is up, albeit bare bones, but you can still read updates, find out what he can and cannot receive in jail and most importantly an address to write him at. Peter loves mail and that's all he has right now to keep him connected to the outside. Take 5 minutes to write him a letter. If you can't afford .37 cents for a prisoner, visit SupportPeter.com and email him a letter! No excuses! :) - remember, all letters are read by the authorities.

He's in there for the animals, we need to be out here for him!

See Also: PDX-IMC Feature | Support Peter! | .pdf flyer

Background Information: ALF Suspect's Family Living in Fear | ALF Activist Receives Two Year Prison Sentence | No Compromise Special: Snitch Protocol | Staying Free and Avoiding the Activist Hall of Shame | Snitches Get Stitches?

 

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Announcement :: Arts & Culture : Civil & Human Rights : Labor & Economics

En Celebracion de Cesar Chavez / Cesar Chavez Day Celebration

29 Mar 2005 (Updated)

by featurizer

Evento en celebración del Día de César Chávez
Musica en vivo, Pelicula, Comida, Plactica, y mas Jueves el 31 de Marzo a las 5:30 en Holy Cross Church Hall de Santa Cruz [170 High St – al lado de la Missión]

Ven para aprender más del salud de campesinos, de inmigración, y del trabajo del campo, en celebración de la legacia de Chavez. Salud para la Gente placticará sobre el salud de campesinos en el condado de Santa Cruz. Para más información...

Cesar Chavez Day Celebration in Santa Cruz
You're invited to attend this fantastic program in celebration of Cesar Chavez's birthday and legacy, with music, food, film screening, raffle, photo display, discussion, and presentations on farmworker health. The event will take place on Thursday, 31 March, 5:30pm, at the Holy Cross Church Hall [170 High Street - Next to the Mission]. Read more...

Cesar Chavez Day: Walk for Dignity
In Los Angeles, we’ll pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the historic Delano Grape Strike, lend solidarity to the UFW and all workers who organize for a better future and salute the people's hero, Cesar Chavez, by attending the 7th Annual Cesar Chavez Walk at East Los Angeles College on Saturday, April 2nd, at 8am. Read more...

[ Davenport Resource Service Center | Salud Para La Gente ]

 

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