On the evening of October 6, a solidarity rally for sriking bus drivers was held at the downtown Metro Center. Members of a whole range of unions spoke about their support for the bus drivers. Tim Fitmaurice, a member of the city council, expressed support for the bus drivers. Javier from the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice (SWCJ) at UCSC spoke about support from the students. Emily Riely was the only member of the Transit Board at the rally.

The 12th Annual Peace & Unity March will be held at the Downtown Plaza, in Watsonville, California, on Sunday, October 16th, 2005. The rally begins at 11:00 A.M. and the march begins at 1:00 P.M.

On Thursday, UCSC's College Republicans held a rally against the striking Metro bus drivers. While publicized all over campus, only a handful of students showed up to join them.

However, having heard of the anti-worker rally, students from the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) and the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice (SWCJ), who have been very active supporting the bus drivers, were quick to react. They carpooled down to the rally and had far outnumbered the Republicans even before they arrived. While the mainstream media jumped at the opportunity to discredit the bus drivers' union (UTU Local 23), the pro-worker students showed that UCSC is overwhelmingly in solidarity with the bus drivers.

On Monday at UCSC, over 50 students and workers walked into Mike Rotkin's office, resulting in his acknowledgement that the Transit Board made a bad decision. On Friday, students and workers from UCSC will march at 4pm from the base of campus to the downtown Metro Center to show their solidarity.

October 6, 2005 - The Bus Drivers are on Strike. The College Republicans at UC Santa Cruz organized a rally at the Metro Center to tell the Bus Drivers to get back to work. Therefore, the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice, MEChA and others held a rally countering the College Republicans and in Solidarity with the Bus Drivers.

Regular Wednesday Protest in Felton

Deficiencies of Our Current Federal System, continued

Call for help with Monterey Bay area shelter data

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The Free Skool Winter Quarter teacher registration deadline is coming up October 15th. If you wish to teach a class, we'll need some concrete information from you before then. Winter Quarter runs Nov 1 to Jan 31.

For those of you who don't already know, there will be a BIG MARCH this Friday to support Metro's striking bus drivers in their struggle to get the buses rolling again. With enough support, the workers can get a new contract and things can go back to normal. The details:

March and Rally to End the Bus Strike by Supporting Workers Meet: 4pm, base of UCSC campus, Friday March to downtown's Metro Center for rally at 5

If you can't make it Friday, there's two other actions you can attend:

1) Solidarity rally at the downtown Metro Center Thursday evening at 6pm

2) Show that students support workers and join the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice, MEChA and others in countering the College Republicans Thursday from 12-2 at the downtown Metro Center.