SWASummer2017Newsletter

http://southernworker.org/

Southern Workers Assembly

The Southern Workers Assembly (SWA) is a network of local unions, worker organizations, and organizing committees, committed to building rank-and-file democratic social movement unionism (unionism with a social justice agenda, defined by and accountable to the rank-and-file) as a foundation for organizing, uniting and transforming labor power throughout the South.

SWA Core Principles: Rank-and-file democracy; national and international labor solidarity; organizing the unorganized; fighting all forms of discrimination; building a Southern labor congress; and building labor’s power for independent political action.

SWA Core Demands: Repeal Taft-Hartley and Right-to-Work laws, and collective bargaining rights for all workers.

PO Box 46263
Raleigh, NC 27620
Tel: 252-314-2363
info [at]southernworker.org

http://southernworker.org/

https://www.newsghana.com.gh/viewpoint-lessons-from-the-detroit-july-1967-rebellion-and-prospects-for-social-transformation-part-i/

Read this historical review written by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, on the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Rebellion of July 1967. This first installment of a four part report chronicles some aspects of the sociopolitical dynamics leading up to the monumental events of five decades ago when 164 Black Rebellions erupted across the United States. The unrest in Detroit was the largest of such outbreaks in United States history. This analytical examination was published by News Ghana based in West Africa. An entry on its website says: “News Ghana is Ghana’s leading online news publication for business executives in West Africa and around the continent. We carry news analysis, documentary & business news and sports news worldwide to a larger audience and also focus on developmental issues on Africa, Investment in Africa’s Infrastructure, Health & Education, Roads & Railways, Energy, Transport, etc. News Ghana is updated with increasing depth and frequency. Today, the site is updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. News Ghana will stimulate and expand the national conversation, reporting the news as it breaks, while providing a platform where readers and contributors may have an imprint on public policy, influence public opinion and ultimately, contribute towards bringing the change that we desire in our country, Ghana.”

https://uaw.org/stand-nissan-employees-late/

Next week marks the culmination of one of the biggest civil rights battles in a generation. Thousands of people who work at Nissan’s Canton, Mississippi factory will vote whether to join together in union to improve their jobs and communities.

Veteran auto assemblers are uniting to protest dangerous conditions, insecure permatemp jobs, and punishing schedules. Nissan is responding with an ugly unionbusting campaign to suppress the voices and dignity of its predominantly Black workforce.

It’s no accident that Nissan’s factories in the South are the only ones in the world where its employees do not have a union. Corporations deliberately move factories to states like Mississippi to take advantage of weak worker protections.

Nissan uses fear and misinformation to bully men and women at the Canton plant into voting against a fair return on their work. Managers are screening an anti-union video on a continuous loop in the break room, pulling individuals into intimidating one-on-one meetings, and threatening that Nissan will close the plant if auto assemblers join in union. Corporate executives are attempting to take away people’s freedom to vote in a fair election. 

We don’t have much time left. Nissan employees will vote on August 3 and 4. We can expect that Nissan will do everything in its power to prevent working people from standing up for family-sustaining jobs in the next week unless the corporation feels enough public pressure to stop.

Don’t wait a minute longer. Urge Nissan to respect the civil rights of its working people and their demands for a fair union election.

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk/

Venezuela’s current wave of extreme right wing violence and wanton destruction aims at creating conditions of chaos in the country so as to bring about external intervention. The wave of violence, the efforts to isolate Venezuela diplomatically, and the external interference in its internal affairs have one and only aim, ‘regime change’.

• Demand full respect for international law and unconditional support for Venezuela’s right to self-determination and sovereignty
• Rejection of any form of interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs, especially from the US; international law ought to be respected
• Condemn any illegal, violent and unconstitutional attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nicolas Maduro.
• Support UNASUR, the Vatican, former presidents Zapatero, Leonel Fernández and Martín Torrijos (of Spain, Dominican Republic and Panama respectively) and the five countries that have formally joined the process in order to bring about peace in Venezuela through dialogue.
• Any existing difference or disagreement that may exist between Venezuela and the US to be addressed and resolved through constructive engagement and diplomacy

SPONSORS:
Estela Vazquez
Vice President 1199-SEIU

Andre Francois
President Local 8751, Boston School Bus Union

Steve Kirschbaum
Vice President Local 8751, Boston School Bus Union

SUPPORTED BY: 
Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle NYC; International Action Center; Answer Coalition; International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ); United National Anti-war Coalition; Workers World Party; Cuba Solidarity; International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity; FMLN NY

If you want support this initiative please send an email to cbalbertolovera@gmail.com

http://www.prisonradio.org/media/audio/mumia/youth-streets-254-mumia-abu-jamal

http://www.prisonradio.org/media/audio/mumia

http://www.granma.cu/idiomas/ingles/cuba-i/11diciembre-derechos.html

http://www.granma.cu/idiomas/ingles/

Among the reasons to celebrate are Cuba’s achievements in the protection of children, as highlighted by UNICEF

Innumerable children, young people and members of mass organizations led Human Rights Day celebrations in Cuba. Squares and parks across the country played host to diverse activities, including debates and discussions in various universities.

Among the topics discussed were access to information and communications technology, which in Cuba are at the service of the people; internet connectivity, which is currently being facilitated and prioritized at social and community centers and institutions; as well as current efforts to combat subversion through the use of such technologies.

It is precisely younger generations, which figure among the high priority groups with regard to social policies, who raised their voices in song on a day of various activities which included book sales, dances and sporting events.

Among the reasons to celebrate are Cuba’s achievements “in the protection of children,” as highlighted by UNICEF, while UNESCO, in its most recent global Education For All Monitoring Report (2012), positioned Cuba in 16th place based on its educational development indices. http://www.granma.cu/idiomas/ingles/

2821 N 4th Street, Suite 108, Milwaukee, 6-7 P.M.

Click below to read about why MSDF should be closed.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/06/29/rice-brisco-states-secure-detention-facility-milwaukee-needs-closed/437651001/

Click below to sign the petition that calls on Governor Walker to close MSDF.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf?source=email

WHY CLOSE THE MILWAUKEE SECURE DETENTION FACILITY?
Conditions at Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF) are out of step with Wisconsin values. Not only have conditions at the prison been deplorable for years, but the very notion of locking up people struggling with parole and mental health issues is at odds with common sense approaches to justice. MSDF was built in 2001 as a temporary detention facility for people on parole, probation, and extended supervision who allegedly committed violations in their rules of supervision. In the last 16 years, thousands of individuals, convicted of no new crime, have been re-incarcerated at MSDF—over sixty percent of them black men. This practice of “crimeless revocations” exacerbates racial inequities in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and the inhumane conditions at MSDF violate basic human rights and defy our notions of justice and freedom. The #CLOSEmsdf Campaign is led by EX-Prisoners Organizing (EXPO), a project of WISDOM, with the support of JustLeadershipUSA, community members, and local Wisconsin organizations. The campaign aims not only to close this facility, but reimagine how we invest in people caught in the penal system. MSDF is beyond reform and must be shuttered in order to build the stronger communities that Milwaukee and Wisconsin deserve.

PROBLEMS FACING PEOPLE INCARCERATED AT MSDF
• Human rights violations, including: Poor ventilation, extreme heat, no outdoor recreation, 22 hours of lockdown per day, and no in-person visits.
• Excessive mistreatment and use of force against mentally ill people.
• Racial bias: African Americans were 12 times more likely to be sent to prison for crimeless revocation than whites in 2013.
• No due process: Revocation process gives significant discretion to DOC parole agents rather than criminal courts, which makes it harder for people facing incarceration to fight that outcome.

SOLUTIONS
• Ending the practice of incarcerating people for minor rules violations of their supervision.
• Allow people facing revocation to remain in the community until their hearings.
• Shifting the “Alternatives to Revocation” beds to the community.
• Solve overcrowding issues in Wisconsin jails and prisons through policy changes such as bail reform and increased use of Treatment Alternatives and Diversion programs.
• Reinvest the excessive corrections spending toward workforce development training for formerly incarcerated people and greater access to mental health professionals and clinics within the community.

Hosted by Disability Pride Madison

Tenney Park Shelter, 1414 E Johnson Street, Madison, 12-5 P.M.

Madison’s Fifth Annual Disability Pride Festival
12-5 PM, Tenney Park
2107 Mainstage Schedule
12 noon–Welcome and Celebration of Madison’s new Ramp
12:15–National Dance Day with Christy Anderson
12:30–Gaelynn Lea
2-2:15–Cindy Bentley
2:20-3:20pm–Tani Diakite and the Afrofunkstars
4:15-5pm–BLK Reign and the Band
Music Between sets by DJ Pain 1

Flash Talks in the Wellness Tent
12:00- Telecommunication Devices (telephones and related devices) and how they can reduce/eliminate barriers by Access to Independence
12:35- Youth Leadership with Jenny Neugart, Waisman Center
1:10- FEED Kitchen
1:45- Advocacy Matters with Beth Swedeen
2:20- Wisconsibs- Sibs are important too! with Harriet Redman
2:55- Assistive Technology low-tech and high tech devices that reduce barriers for independent living needs by Access to Independence
3:30- FEED Kitchen
4:05- Current Issues with the Madison School Board by Nicki Vanden Meulen

1-4pm
Karaoke by Band in the Box

All Day
free accessible pontoon boat rides
Facebook Livestream-talk to your government officials
Children’s tent with Madison Children’s Museum, MSCR and facepainting
Climbing Wall with instruction in adaptive climbing (must fill out liability waiver here https://www.bouldersgym.com/waivers)
and over 50 exhibitors.

Brats, Lupe’s Taqueria (gluten-free) and BBQ

The festival is Sponsored by the WI Board for People with Developmental Disabilities. Dane Arts with additional funds from te Evjue Foundation, charitable arm of the Capital Times, the Madison Arts Commision with Additional Funding from the Wisconsin Arts Council, MG&E, iCare, The Management Group, 101 Mobility, the McBurney Disability Resource Center at UW Madison, Summit Credit Union, Freedom Inc, Family Voices, Willy Street Coop, Debra’s Love Coop and other community Partners.

Hosted by Riverwest Public House Cooperative

815 E Locust, Riverwest Public House, 7-8:30 P.M.

Free and open to the public

Join us for a presentation highlighting Indigenous and grassroots resistance to Enbridge oil pipelines in the Great Lakes region.

The presentation weaves together stories of Indigenous and grassroots resistance through a series of short films and facilitation. From the front lines of oil extraction to the refinery, communities all across Enbridge pipelines have been taking a stand to protect the water, land, and sky for future generations.

With multiple Enbridge pipelines cutting across Wisconsin, learn how you can take action to help shut down these pipelines!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press contact:

Michigan Peoples Defense Network