Cuban Aid Across the Globe for COVID-19
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The Era Of Mass Strikes Begins On May 1, First Day Of General Strike Campaign
On Friday, May 1, an ongoing General Strike campaign begins. This campaign could become the most powerful movement in the United States and reset the national agenda. It comes when the failures of the US political system have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered an economic collapse in a presidential election year. The General Strike campaign will be ongoing with actions on the first of every month. Strategic strikes of workers, students, consumers, prisoners, and renters will also continue.
This new era of mass strikes builds on successful strikes by teachers, healthcare workers, hotel workers, and others. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the last two years, there has been the largest number of major work stoppages in 35 years with more than 400,000 workers involved in strikes in both 2018 and 2019. This continues in 2020 with a wave of wildcat strikes.
People must commit to an ongoing campaign of strikes starting now and continuing after the election. FDR faced more than 1.4 million people striking after he was elected, which forced him to put the New Deal and workers’ rights legislation in place. The next president should be subjected to continuous strikes with specific demands. Striking is the most powerful tool of the people. We need to learn to use it effectively.
United action magnifies popular power and shows those in power that they cannot ignore us any longer. You can participate by sharing this article with other people and urging them to participate. Follow and share the hashtags #CoronaStrike, #GeneralStrike, #MayDay2020, #GeneralStrike2020, and #PeoplesStrike.
Participate in Popular Resistance’s Zoom call on April 29, 2020, at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific to learn about what will be happening on May Day and how you can be part of it. Register at bit.ly/MayDayMeeting.
April 28, 2020: Workers Memorial Day: Honor the Dead, Fight for the Living
Every April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day, a day to honor workers who have died or suffered illness or injuries while on the job.
At the forefront of this Workers Memorial Day is the COVID-19 pandemic—a major crisis for working people, our families, our country and the world. Now, more than ever, it is important we commemorate those we have lost on the job, renew our fight for stronger safety and health protections, and speak up for workers’ rights.
The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 114 workers were killed in Wisconsin in 2018 while on the job, and many more suffered from occupational diseases. This year, across our country, thousands more workers’ lives are being lost to COVID-19 because workers are not getting necessary protections like proper PPE, thoroughly clean and sanitized workplaces, and appropriate social distance at work — which would save lives and stop the spread of this very contagious virus.
Join us as we honor workers killed on the job.
April 28 Workers Memorial Day Commemorations in Wisconsin
- Statewide Moment of Silence at 12:00 p.m. noon
- Share a picture of a burning candle on social media with the #WMD2020
- Join the Milwaukee Area Labor Council for a virtual Workers Memorial Day Event at 5:30 p.m. Details here.
- The South Central Federation of Labor will distribute a video message from workers and allies to fellow unions and the press on the morning of Tuesday, April 28
- The Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO will live stream a commemoration on Facebook at 10:00 a.m. An edited video version of the event will be available later in the day.
- The Marathon County Central Labor Council will hold a moment of silence in Marathon County for workers killed on the job at 5:30 p.m.
On Workers Memorial Day, we come together to call for action on hazards that cause unnecessary injury, illness and death at work. We will stand united against the ongoing attacks on workers’ rights and protections, and demand that elected officials put working people’s well-being above corporate interests.
We will fight for the right of every worker to have a safe job until that promise is fulfilled.
In Solidarity,
Stephanie Bloomingdale, President
Dennis Delie, Secretary-Treasurer
Milwaukee, April 30: Dontre Day 2020 Dontre Still Cares
Dontre Day 2020 Dontre Still Cares
5:30 P.M., 920 N Water Street, Milwaukee, WI
Dontre Hamilton’s legacy in our Milwaukee community and beyond is one of CARE for each other. This year marks the 6th anniversary of his death in Red Arrow Park at the hands of Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney.
In this season of sheltering from the Coronavirus, we will be honoring Dontre’s legacy within the guidelines of Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order.
On Dontre Day, Thursday, April 30th, at 5:30 p.m., we will gather at Red Arrow Park–920 N. Water St., Milwaukee–for a “Car March”. We will drive together around Red Arrow Park, in honor of Dontre’s caring spirit.
Please join us.
Call 414.939.5599 for more information.
Webinar May 2, 2020: Celebrate May Day with Workers Around the World
Topic
Celebrate May Day with Workers Around the World
Description
Solidarity, not sanctions or blockades, in the struggle against Covid-19
Time
Cuban workers honor Lenin and convoke May Day mobilization
On Havana’s Lenin Hill, a small group of trade union leaders dedicated a floral tribute to the legendary Bolshevik and convoked May Day celebrations at home and in workplaces where essential operations continue
Fidel and Raul attend inauguration of the Lenin Monument in the Havana park bearing the Russian revolutionary’s name. Photo: Jorge Oller
Reverence and mobilization – as tributes to great leaders of the historical struggles for social justice should always be – was Cuban workers’ commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of universal proletarian leader Vladimir Ilich Lenin, in whose honor this year’s May Day mobilization was called.
On Havana’s Lenin Hill, a small group of trade union leaders, headed by Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, Party Political Bureau member and general secretary of the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC), dedicated a floral tribute to the legendary Bolshevik, who played a key role in the Russian Revolution, the greatest lesson in the annals of history of what the emancipated working class can achieve in unity of thought and action, guided by socialist principles.
Consistent with the date and the legacy of Lenin, the CTC, in the voice of its Secretary General, reported the decision to celebrate International Workers’ Day within Cuban homes, adhering to health measures adopted to combat the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic.
Guilarte de Nacimiento described as a crucial battle this confrontation with a virus that is devastating the world, and highlighted the important role of the working class in this struggle; both on the front line of the fight and “in the decisive trench” that staying at home represents today.
Under the banner of “For Cuba, United we will win,” May Day celebrations will not include the traditional marches and demonstrations throughout the country, but will take place inside homes, “So that, in the company of our families, we can incorporate all the potential that social media and information technologies offer today, and celebrate the date as it deserves,” Guilarte stated.
He recalled that this May 1st will mark the 20th anniversary of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro’s historic speech on the concept of Revolution, as valid now as ever, as we confront the pandemic “with a sense of the historic moment, with audacity, intelligence and realism in the face of obstacles,” determined, as he taught us, to confront and overcome these obstacles, no matter how challenging they appear.
Guilarte emphasized our solidarity with the workers around the world suffering the impact of the crisis of the capitalist health system, and thanked trade unions and progressive forces everywhere for their support of our demand to end the genocidal U.S. blockade of Cuba.
The CTC Secretary General insisted that responsible social isolation will not prevent the creativity of Cubans from flowering to commemorate International Workers Day in homes and workplaces where essential operations continue.
TO THE MEMORY OF LENIN, AROUND THE WORLD
The 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, yesterday April 22, was also celebrated in other latitudes.
Members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, led by its leader, Guennadi Ziuganov, laid flowers at the foot of the party’s founder’s mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, on Twitter, noted the anniversary “of the birth of the Russian revolutionary politician and philosopher,” while a special stamp collection commemorating the date was presented by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication, with the country’s postal company.
Solidarity Fund – WI’s Undocumented Families
As undocumented families face escalating threats to their health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government continues to exclude them from any kind of federal assistance, including unemployment benefits and stimulus checks. It is clear that at this moment it is up to those with resources to be in solidarity and provide mutual aid to our immigrant siblings in need.
Ayuda Mutua MKE seeks to provide support for undocumented folks whose livelihoods are being affected by COVID-19. Whether it’s from a decline in business for street vendors or lay-offs in domestic and restaurant industries, we seek to help alleviate some of the financial stress on undocumented community members living in Wisconsin.
The funds are meant to help non-traditional service workers such as:
▪️Canners/ bottle collectors
▪️House cleaners (limpiadores de casa)
▪️Restaurant workers (kitchen staff, bussers, runners, servers)
▪️Street vendors (eloteros, churros, taqueros)
▪️Catalog home sales agents (provedores de ventas por catalogo)
▪️Seamstress (costureros)
▪️Undocumented self-employed workers (personas indocumentadas que generan su propio trabajo/ingresos)
▪️Farmworkers (trabajadores de campo)
▪️Others who hustle for a living – for example, people who pick up free items, repurpose and sell (personas que se las ingenian para conseguir fondos, por ejemplo reventa de productos).
https://bit.ly/35avhra
Who We Are:
Ayuda Mutua MKE is a collective of artists, organizers, and cultural workers on the south side of Milwaukee who believe in solidarity, not charity. That means that our community decides and drives our work, we are accountable to our community and we recognize that systemic oppression is the root cause of our current crisis.
This fundraiser will launch on April 6, 2020, and close when we have met our goal.
NO STATE ENTITIES will have access to applications.
Application and funds distribution:
We are following other platforms and their application and distribution schemes. I (Jeanette) was inspired by the “COVID-19 Mutual Aid Fund for LGBTQI+ BIPOC Folks” and are citing them directly here:
“We wanted to absolutely avoid parsing through people’s narratives and deciding whose needs were more important than others. We agree with adrienne maree brown who quotes Lao Tzu (author of Tao Te Ching) in Emergent Strategy: ‘If you do not trust the people, they will become untrustworthy.’ We are choosing to trust the people. We are not social workers and we refuse to replicate that position and dynamic.”
How the process will work:
➖Simple application (will go live once enough funds become available).
➖We understand that many community members will not have access to digital tools, so we will have a hotline to fill out people’s applications.
➖The application will close 2 weeks after opening. The deadline will be announced in the coming days.
➖The number of applications will be published.
➖Distribution begins.
We will fund $100 per family. If we can hit our fundraising goal, we will have been able to support 250 families across Wisconsin.
National Nurses United Response To COVID-19
https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/
About the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak
In December 2019, a newly identified coronavirus, known as COVID-19, emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China causing illness in humans. Multiple clusters of COVID-19 have since been reported across China and in more than 70 other countries including Italy, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the virus to be a nationwide health emergency following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020.
On January 21, 2020, China announced for the first time that health care workers have been infected- at least fourteen by recent counts. In recent days, dozens of U.S. health care workers have been exposed due to their employer’s lack of protections.
Health care workers need your help in the fight against COVID-19.
Click below to call for safer facilities, more PPE, and thank nurses for all that they do. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/take-action-3
National Women’s Law Center Employees Form Staff Union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 22, 2020
Contact: Katie Barrows, NPEU, kbarrows@npeu.org, 360-624-6936
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 – Today, the staff members of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) announced they have unionized with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). NWLC management voluntarily recognized the union, NWLC United.
“We highlight how unions give women and other marginalized workers the power to create more equitable workplaces in our everyday work for NWLC,” said the NWLC United Organizing Committee members. “By forming our union, we are living NWLC’s long-held values and affirming NWLC’s role as a leader in advancing economic justice and worker power.”
“At the National Women’s Law Center, we fight for the right of women and girls to live, learn and work with safety, equity, and dignity. Our vision of a just workplace extends to every worker in this country, including those who work at NWLC,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of NWLC. “Labor organizing has been a critical part of furthering the gender justice movement, and it is with that significance that today, we are proud to have voluntarily recognized NWLC United.”
“We welcome the employees of NWLC into our union,” said NPEU President Kayla Blado. “NWLC is a leader in closing the gender wage gap and achieving justice for those who have been historically discriminated against. We are excited for the NWLC staff to use their union to create a stronger, more equitable workplace for all employees.”
NWLC United will now work with management to collectively bargain a union contract.
About NPEU:
The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU) represents professionals employed at more than 20 nonprofit organizations, including employees at Economic Policy Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Community Change. With several hundred members, NPEU gives nonprofit workers a voice to strengthen their workplaces and continue to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives.
About NWLC:
The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society — working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us — especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.
Madison May Day 2020 Caravan
Last week, Wisconsin nurses held a vigil to honor the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. They stressed their deep concern about the call to re-open Wisconsin and warned against the rally scheduled for the following day.
Nevertheless, over 1300 people gathered at the State Capitol calling to “Liberate” Wisconsin. None of us are truly free if we are not safe and healthy. At the rally, people spoke about how they lost their jobs or small businesses, their health insurance and their ability to pay their bills. That part is true. This *is* the case for millions of people all over the country.
However, the answer is not reopen the economy because it’s just not safe. Social-distancing, as painful as it has been, is working and we must continue it until we’re on the other side of this deadly pandemic.
Instead of increasing risk of contracting and spreading this virus, we must stand together and call on our leaders to take action.
May Day is International Workers’ Day and it’s the perfect day to stand in solidarity with all workers and demand they be taken care of. This Friday, May 1st at noon, a caravan will gather and travel around the Capitol to make sure our leaders hear our demands. We will not gather in a large crowd but rather stay in our cars and unite in a responsible way. The caravan will start at the parking lot of the Madison Labor Temple to honor all workers – especially our medical, restaurant, grocery, postal and delivery workers. They should *all* receive the hazard pay and equipment they need to stay safe.
For all who’ve lost their jobs or are underemployed, emergency relief funds and BadgerCare should be given directly. This must include our undocumented sisters and brothers, whom we also honor on May 1st – A Day Without Immigrants. We are also calling to #CancelRent.
Please sign our petition, especially if you’re unable to travel to Madison this Friday. This is our chance to safely stand in solidarity with one another during this crisis. We must work together as if our lives depend on it, because they do. Please join us. Thank you.
