International Women’s Day

Join United Action Oshkosh at Harmony Pizza in Appleton from 6-9pm on March 9th to celebrate International Women’s Day! Co-hosted by Wisconsin Freedom Road Socialist Organization, this event will focus on highlighting the leading role women have played (and currently play!) in the struggle for our collective liberation. From union battles to struggles against police crimes and the fight for immigrant rights, women are leading the charge.

A part of this celebration will incorporate a storytelling aspect, where we encourage women to share their stories with us through whichever medium they choose: poetry, song, spoken word, just plain speech, or anything else. People who are interested in attending and would like to participate in this storytelling aspect should prepare something in advance and message the UAO page if there are any questions.

http://sflaborcouncil.org/

[The following resolution was adopted by the Delegates Meeting of the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) on Monday, February 11, 2019.]

Whereas, Trump administration officials have openly declared their intention to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; and

Whereas, the U.S. has tightened economic sanctions, including the seizure of Venezuela’s oil properties in the United States, increasing the hardship on the people of Venezuela; and

Whereas, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, and leading Trump administration foreign policy officials have made clear their intention to privatize Venezuela’s oil and open it to exploitation by the U.S. oil companies if their coup strategy succeeds; and

Whereas, Elliott Abrams has been named Special Envoy to Venezuela and is notorious for his central role in the Iran-Contra scheme and arming of the Nicaraguan contras, the Salvadoran death squad government, and the genocidal regime in Guatemala responsible for the massacres of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in that country; and

Whereas, the U.S. campaign of regime change in Venezuela is against the interests of the people of Venezuela, Latin America or the people of the United States; and

Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council resolved on May 12, 2014, to “support the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to continue their political and social process free from foreign intervention,” demanding “that the U.S. government refrain from intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela.” 

Therefore Be It Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council endorse and support (1) the February 23 Emergency Bay Area Hands Off Venezuela protest action; (2) the March 16 National March on the White House to say “Hands Off Venezuela, No War, No Sanctions, No Coup,” which in the Bay Area will be held on Saturday, March 9; and (3) the Hands Off Venezuela National Action, which in the Bay Area will be held on March 31.

Be It Further Resolved, that this resolution will be sent to the California Labor Federation and to Bay Area Congress members.

(adopted unanimously minus one abstention)

Respectfully submitted by

• Gloria La Riva, delegate, Pacific Media Workers Guild Local 39521

• Alan Benjamin, delegate, OPEIU Local 29

• David Welsh, delegate, NALC Branch 214

On January 9, 2019 an estimated 250 prisoners initiated a hungerstrike within California State Prison – Corcoran’s 3C facility in response to an indefinite lockdown. On January 28 after three weeks of refusing food trays, the warden met with representatives, granted full canteen privileges and promised to work out a separate yard schedule. The strikers suspended their hungerstrike and were ready to continue negiotiations in good faith.

Over the last two weeks there has been NO PROGRESS on receiving full canteen or separate yard time. The warden has reneged on all pledges so the strikers of 3C refused breakfast trays on Monday and held a day long noise demo banging on doors and windows. The initial demands remain and strikers insist that they be dealt with in good faith.

BACKGROUND: All units within 3C have been on “modified program” for 4 months now. This essentially means a “lockdown” in all meaningful aspects – no visitation, no canteen, no packages, no educational, rehab or vocational programming, and little yard time. The pretext for this indefinite lockdown by CDCr of hundreds of prisoners for months on end is an altercation on Sept 28th which saw three prisoners from their grouping attacked and put into the infirmary. Group punishments and indefinite isolation are standard practices by CDCr and must stop. In addition, guards have been setting up “dogfights” or “gladiator matches” on the yard between hostile groups: They hand pick a pair of prisoners from the group that initiated hostilities for yard time then release another pair of targeted prisoners onto the yard to be attacked. These practices only escalate trauma and conflict and ultimately only promote violence and destabilization within facilities. This effects are not an accident or “regrettable by-products”. This is how CDCr interprets its mission: control by brutalization and division.

Representatives of the unit have composed and relayed their demands to the outside as follows:

“Corcoran State Prison (3C YRD)

6 Core Demands Are As Follows:

1. Lift Lock-Down.
2. Allow Visits.
3. Allow Us To Attend Educational Vocational & Rehabilitation Programs That We’re Enrolled In
4. Allow us to Receive Commissary & Packages
5. That We Be Given Our Weekly 10 hrs Mandated Of Outdoor Exercise Yard
6. That We Are Treated Fairly

***WE’VE BEEN ON THIS PEACEFUL HUNGER STRIKE SINCE JANUARY 9TH, 2019 AND HAVE YET TO SEE CHANGE…
WE WILL CONTINUE THIS HUNGER STRIKE UNTIL OUR VOICES ARE HEARD.”

PHONEZAP THIS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, 2/13-14

The hungerstrike representatives have requested phone calls be made to officials in Sacramento to amplify the demands. Put aside some time this Wednesday and Thursday, 2/13-14, to make some calls!

SAMPLE SCRIPT and PHONE NUMBERS

“Hello, my name is ***_________. I’m calling to insist that you meet the demands of hunger strikers in Facility 3C at Corcoran State Prison. I understand that this strike is the result of at least four months of an effective lockdown which must end. I demand that you lift the lock-down, and reinstate visits, educational, vocational, and rehabilitative programs, as well as safe yard time. Reinstate access to commissary, packages, and their allotted 10 hrs of yard time. This is the MINIMUM level of fairness that you are required to provide to people in your care. Thank you.”

PHONE NUMBERS in order. If you can’t get through on one, you can move on to the next.
1) Regional Director, Dave Baughman – (916) 445-2165 (or email at david.baughman@cdcr.ca.gov)
2) CDCr Division of Adult Institutions – (916) 445-7688 (ask for Director)
3) CDCr Secretary Ralph Diaz – (916) 324-7308 [main CDCr line; ask to leave message for Sec. Diaz]

Don’t worry about staff or representatives giving you the runaround or denying that anything is happening at Corcoran. Denial and obstruction are standard operating procedure for them.

Please reportback!

*** You aren’t obligated to give your name if you don’t wish.

Our mailing address is:

Freedom Inc

Despite recently renewing the contract with the Madison Police Department, the Madison Metropolitan School District (Madison Schools – MMSD) is participating in the National Week of Action for Black Lives Matter at School whose fourth demand is to “Fund Counselors Not Cops.” This hypocrisy is a slap in the face to Black students who are disproportionately impacted by police violence in their schools and in their communities.

Freedom Inc. has urged MMSD to invest in non-police crisis intervention specialists, school psychologists, counselors and creating well rounded, culturally relevant programs and services for youth of color for the past two years. Our youth deserve better and their lives matter.

CLOSEmsdf Picket (February)

901 N 9th Street, Milwaukee, 11:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.

Why do we picket?
1. To educate people on the inhumane conditions at MSDF
2. To memorialize the 17 people who have died in MSDF since it opened.
3. To let WI taxpayers know that each day someone spends in MSDF for a crimeless rule violation it costs us $100.84 vs $40 to treat that person in the community where their job, housing & support systems stay secure.
4. Former Governer Tommy Thompson has said building MSDF was a mistake. Its time the state corrects that error.

*****************************************************
Please join us during the lunch hour on February 20 on the 10th Street side of the courthouse. Partway through the picket we might march over to the state office building on 6th and Wells, where the DOC has offices.

Parking is metered or nearby public lots. If you don’t mind walking a couple blocks, its often easier to find free parking on the other side of the freeway.

We’ve been holding down this monthly picket since the spring of 2017. A coalition of Milwaukee organizations have joined up to shut down MSDF. This facility is a building within a building, where captives have no access to fresh air or sunlight. They are triple bunked in lockdown cells for over 20 hours a day. There is no outdoor rec. The facility was built and is run using funds that should be used for diversionary programs to keep people out of jail, instead it’s being used to keep them on supervision under arbitrary and vindictive probation and parole officers.

We are organizing this protest on every 23rd (unless that lands on a weekend, when there’s less foot traffic). The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has called for actions on the 23rd of every month (to bring attention to 23 hour a day lockdowns). http://www.nrcat.org/about-us/take-action-current-legislation/563-together-to-end-solitary

Can’t come?

SIGN THE PETITION!!!!

If you haven’t signed the petition yet yourself, please do here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf

EXPO MKE Monthly Meeting

2821 N Vel Phillips Avenue, Milwaukee, 6-8 P.M.

his month’s EXPO Meeting will include a presentation by Alan Schultz on the Columbia University Justice Lab’s report on mass supervision in Wisconsin. We will include the testimonies of people who have been directly impacted by Wisconsin’s horrific, racist system of mass supervision. This event will be at Room 108 at Welford Sanders Enterprise Center, 2821 N. Vel Phillips Avenue, Milwaukee.

The presentation will be followed by a State Budget Advocacy Training led by EXPO organizers. This training is designed to gear people up for the upcoming Budget Hearings held statewide on the Governors Biennial Budget, He will be releasing his budget March 3, 2019 & the Budget Hearings will be announce closely after that date.

We invite our members to have a voice and join us at both the State Wide Budget Hearings and Madison Action Day on March 26, 2019.

You can access the Columbia Justice Lab Report here:
https://closemsdf.org/2019/01/22/columbia-justice-lab-report-on-mass-supervision-in-wisconsin/

Oakland Education Association‎SEIU 1021 and OEA united

NO CLASS WITHOUT CLASSIFIED!

SEIU 1021 workers are standing with their OEA coworkers as we gear up for a potential strike. They’ll be showing up to the school board meeting on Wednesday, February 13 — let’s show up with them!

Classified workers keep campuses safe, support children with special needs, and provide early childhood education. Despite their important role in students’ lives, the School District is insisting on cuts and layoffs and may force them into a potential strike, alongside OEA membership.

OEA and SEIU 1021 stand together, for ourselves, the students who rely on us, and for the heart and soul of our city’s public school system.

OUSD Board of Education
6 pm
286 E 10th St, Oakland

The Grayzone reports from inside Venezuela, where millions of people waited in long lines to sign an open letter to the US public, strongly rejecting foreign intervention in their country. Anya Parampil interviewed working-class Venezuelans in Simon Bolivar Square in the capital Caracas, on February 10, 2019.  #handsoffvenezuela#yofirmoporlapaz

Nicolas Maduro: An Open Letter to the People of the United States:  https://orinocotribune.com/nicolas-maduro-an-open-letter-to-the-people-of-the-united-states

Support The Grayzone at https://patreon.com/grayzone See more of our original reporting at https://grayzoneproject.com

https://www.nowaronvenezuela.org/

No U.S. War on Venezuela!

We cannot be silent in the face of the latest U.S. aggression against the Venezuelan people. Nicolás Maduro is the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, chosen twice by the people as part of an internationally observed electoral process. Since the 1998 election of Hugo Chávez, the United States has been relentless in its pursuit of regime change in Venezuela. With Donald Trump in the White House, these efforts have escalated to threats of all-out military violence, the plundering of billions of dollars in wealth from the Venezuelan people and pushing a multitude of outrageous lies in the global media.

For hundreds of years, the U.S. has waged war against the people of the world through coups, invasions and economic warfare. Juan Guaidó is a U.S. puppet. He is not a representative of the Venezuelan masses. The idea that a person can swear themselves in as president at a rally in the interest of “defending democracy” is laughable. The right wing in Venezuela claim the Bolivarian elections are rigged because they refuse to participate in them. Instead they engage in voter intimidation using violence reminiscent of Jim Crow terrorism against African-Americans in the Deep U.S. South.

U.S.-led sanctions and currency manipulation are responsible for the suffering in Venezuela. Marco Rubio and right-wing media guide the Venezuelan opposition from Miami. The U.S. cannot stand for any country on the planet to enjoy its natural wealth or the fruits of its labor independent of Wall Street and the Pentagon. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world and is rich in gold and other mineral wealth. Iraq war architect John Bolton said that regime change in Venezuela would be a tremendous opportunity to gain more profits for Wall Street. We believe him.

Since the Bolivarian Revolution in 1998, massive strides have been taken to uplift the working class, Afro-Venezuelans and Indigenous populations in Venezuela. The working poor have made tremendous gains because the government implemented policies and passed laws to fight racism, sexism, homophobia and economic inequality. Despite sanctions and sabotage, Venezuela has maintained a transparent and democratic system through many elections. Venezuela provides aid to struggling people worldwide through subsidized fuel and by leading the way with progressive labor laws. Their gains are part of the global struggle waged by workers and the oppressed against the wealthiest and most powerful capitalists on the planet.

Therefore, we demand:

• The U.S. immediately cease all hostile actions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela — lift all sanctions, stop backing a coup, cease efforts to destroy the Venezuelan economy and respect the right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination.
• All countries involved in the plunder of Venezuelan wealth immediately return what they have stolen to the democratically elected government of Venezuela and its people.
• Wall Street must immediately pay reparations to the Venezuelan people for their suffering under genocidal sanctions and currency manipulation.

In the internationalist and liberatory spirit of Simón Bolívar, we pledge to mobilize and fight on the side of Venezuela’s right to sovereignty, understanding that the gains won under the Bolivarian Revolution are gains for all the world’s workers and oppressed.