https://www.democracynow.org/

Democracy Now! has just returned from Puerto Rico, where we interviewed Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo, head of the Puerto Rico electrical workers’ union, just as the island’s governor announced he was instructing the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA, to cancel its controversial $300 million contract with the tiny Montana-based company Whitefish Energy. The move came after enormous pressure and scrutiny of the contract to reconstruct Puerto Rico’s electrical power grid devastated by Hurricane Maria. Whitefish Energy is based in the tiny hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The head of the private equity company that backs Whitefish, Joe Colonnetta, was a Trump campaign donor. All of this comes as a leaked copy of the contract sparked even further outrage last week, when it revealed that the terms barred penalties for work delays and prohibited the project from being audited.

https://www.democracynow.org/

1 P.M. Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

JOIN WITH PROTESTS ACROSS THE US, CANADA, AND WORLDWIDE ON NOVEMBER 1! YOUR PRESENCE IS A VOTE IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR NEIGHBORS IN CUBA!

AFTER THE RALLY, MARCH with us to the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations on 38th Street and Lexington Ave.

DEMAND THE NORMALIZATION OF US-CUBA RELATIONS!

ON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1, the United Nations General Assembly will debate and vote on a crucial resolution condemning the US policy of aggression against Cuba, the 50-year-old economic, commercial, and financial embargo. Last year’s vote was 191-0 with the US and Israel abstaining. Support for the Resolution has been overwhelming for over 20 years.

SAY NO TO A POLICY of aggression and hostility against the Cuban people. SAY NO to the ongoing assault on our right to travel to Cuba and the right of Cubans to visit the US. Support full people-to-people interchange with all sectors of society.

JOIN US IN SOLIDARITY with the sovereign nation of Cuba at a peoples’ rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations right after the vote. A report on the vote will be presented at the rally.

List of cities so far where actions will take place:
ATLANTA, BAY AREA, BOSTON, CHICAGO, HALIFAX, HARTFORD
JOHANNESBURG-PRETORIA, MONTREAL, NEW YORK CITY, QUEBEC CITY, TORONTO, TWIN CITIES VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON, DC

For more information: 917-887-8710
Sponsored by a Solidarity Coalition of Organizations and Activists in New York City, New Jersey, and Albany.
www.us-cubanormalization.org

Sign up today to help recertify the MTEA!

Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-3fMKDhTSSaJMR2dOTUUIiWZnLNVPQjN5LUuCUeqiFYlSfw/viewform

Thousands of MPS educators need to vote “YES” to Recertify the MTEA between noon, Nov. 1 and noon, Nov. 21. If someone does not vote, their vote is counted as NO.

To reach every eligible voter we need your help! Grab some colleagues and sign up for a Recertification Phone Banking Party at the MTEA! Have fun during the kick-off weekend brunch or try your luck at recert phone bank bingo.

Sign up today! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-3fMKDhTSSaJMR2dOTUUIiWZnLNVPQjN5LUuCUeqiFYlSfw/viewform

Hosted by Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association

5130 W Vliet Street, Milwaukee, 7:30 P.M. 

MPS has a large budget shortfall and is planning a pay freeze for all employees. We MUST stand together and demand the school board:

SAY YES TO
• Class sizes that enable teachers to connect one-on-one with each student
• Well-rounded curriculum at EVERY school with arts, phy. ed., and music
• A budget that honors the AGR Board Policy
• Full funding of a salary schedule and raises for educational assistants
• Steps and a cost of living increase for every MPS educator
• Increasing administrative fees for privately operated MPS charter schools
• Raising the cost of leases on privately operated MPS charter schools

SAY NO TO
• Cuts to front-line educators
• Cuts to our students and classrooms
• Excessive use of no-bid contracts
• Additional layers of administration

We need those who signed up for the Rapid Response Team and anyone else able to attend this meeting to make sure we keep the pressure on the board to make the right choices. This meeting will immediately follow the special bilingual education special session that is scheduled from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.

Photo: Joe Brusky

Hosted by Iraq Veterans Against the War- Milwaukee

Armistice Day began as a way to celebrate and promote peace, on Nov. 11, the day World War I ended. Congress responded to a hope among Americans for no more wars by passing a resolution calling for “exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding.” Later, Congress added that Nov. 11 was to be “a day dedicated to the cause of world peace.”

In 1954 Congress changed the name to Veterans Day, and in many cases it has become a celebration of militarism, honoring war rather than remembering the victims or veterans who served. Through this annual event, we want to restore the tradition of Armistice Day as a day to promote world peace.

Hosted by Young People’s Resistance Committee

839 S 5th Street, Walker Center For The Arts, 7-10 P.M.

Join the Young People’s Resistance Committee Legal Clinic on Friday November 10 for a fundraiser. We will have live music, dancing, and an art auction. The proceeds will be used to help people who are facing detention or deportation cases; as well as aid us in our efforts to organize free Know Your Rights and bond packet trainings.

Acompañe a la Clínica Legal del Comité de Resistencia Juvenil en el Viernes 10 de Noviembre para una Recaudación de fondos. Vamos a tener música en vivo, baile, y una subasta de arte. Los fondos serán usados para ayudar a la gente que se enfrenta casos detención ó deportación; también para ayudarnos a organizar talleres de conozca sus derechos y paquetes de fianza.

Hosted by Workers World Party – Michigan

Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution
Topics to be discussed:
– How the Bolshevik Revolution Inspired Socialist Revolutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
– How the Bolshevik Revolution Inspired Socialist Revolutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America
– How Young Revolutionaries View Socialism in the USSR — the gains achieved for the masses of people.
– Special Analysis by Deirdre Griswold, editor of Workers World newspaper: What led to the counterrevolution that overthrew socialism in the USSR – Why we continue to be optimistic for a socialist future.
– Dinner served

After two weeks in Puerto Rico, the Teamsters Disaster Relief finished their two-week long mission to bring the island back on its feet after it suffered the most devastating storm in modern history.

Yesterday, Now This released a video documenting the return of volunteer union members.

“I’m glad we were able to help, even if it was in a small way,” said Roy Gillespie, Joint Council 13 Human Rights Coordinator. “There’s going to be a lot more needed for the long term. They won’t be able to get back on their feet until everyone has clean drinking water, electricity, and all the stuff we take for granted. You go to stores, and the shelves are bare or there are still lines around the block.”

“When you’re at home watching this with your family, you can feel sorry about what’s going on there, but you have the luxury of turning off the TV and forgetting about it,” said Carl Gasca, a Local 174 Business Agent who was returning from San Juan. “These people will never forget about it. And the Puerto Rican people I met, they are truly wonderful people. They have a smile on their face, and they hope for the best but expect the worst.”

Jose Padilla is a Local 282 member that works for U.S. Concrete, and he has family on the island. As he boarded a flight, he reflected upon his time in the disaster zone.

“I felt good that I did this, and I’m happy that I did it for the proper cause,” said Padilla. “I’m proud that I was a part of this project, and I really hope that this island can recover. Now that this is over, the only thing I’m afraid of is planes – I really don’t like flying.”

Check out the video and share it with your coworkers and friends.

In solidarity,

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Hosted by Voces de la Frontera

Espanol: reunión de emergencia para poner un alto a la 287g en el condado de Waukesha en Casa se Esperanza en Waukesha miércoles 1 de noviembre a las 6pm. También llamen al alguacil al 262-548-7122 para decirle que no queremos 287g en Waukesha. Haz tu parte y comparte este video.

English: Emergency meeting to stop 287g in Waukesha County Wed. Nov. 1 at 6pm at Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha. Also call the sheriff at 262-548-7122 to tell him you do not want 287g in Waukesha. Act and share this video.

https://www.newsghana.com.gh/viewpoint-detroits-invisible-majority-and-the-crises-of-municipal-governance/

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Sunday October 29, 2017

“…Claims of revitalization exclude the social aspirations of African Americans and the working masses

During the week of October 23-27, the World Conference of Mayors held a conference in the city of Detroit at the luxurious MGM Casino Hotel.

This organization is not to be confused with the United States Conference of Mayors which has existed for decades. The World Conference mainly consists of elected officials and other affiliates from small and medium-sized African American majority cities in the southern U.S. along with some representation from Africa, Canada and the Middle East…

Another highlight of the week of action was the “Real Detroiters Speak Out” town hall meeting held at the Historic St. Matthews-St. Joseph’s Church on Woodward Avenue on October 26. Over twenty people from various community organizations addressed a capacity audience on the profound problems facing the city.

It is outcomes of such coalition and movement-building activities that solutions to the crises will emerge. At the root of the social problems of Detroit and other major cities is the decline of the capitalist system.

The present administrations holding power in the municipalities, state governments, Congress and the White House are a reflection of the inability of the prevailing economic system to resolve the fundamental needs of the people. The only solution is socialist reconstruction which would transfer the wealth generated by the working and oppressed communities from the capitalist ruling class to the masses.”