http://tinyurl.com/krosh9z

Trump supporters will be gathering at Veteran’s Park this coming Saturday, March 25th. Their plan is to walk to the War Memorial, stop for speakers, then continue on to City Hall.

Milwaukee is our city and our home. We will not allow white supremacists to promote their hateful and racist agenda in our parks and on our streets.

Join us this Saturday for a PEACEFUL counter protest to resist the alt-right coming into OUR city and promoting fascist ideas. MCAT is aware of the occasional violence that has accompanied opposition to the alt-right in other cities, but we are very firmly demanding CONFRONTATION, NOT VIOLENCE. This is necessary to ensure safety for attendees.

We want to prove that we are organized, justified and on the right side of history. White supremacists, racists and Trump supporters must understand that they are not allowed to celebrate their fascism in our city. Stand with us against Trump and his followers!

We’ll be meeting on the south side of Juneau Park at 11AM. Contact the MCAT page with additional questions.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Roanoke, VA

Why Santander Bank owes reparations to the Puerto Rican people

Philadelphia-Camden Boricua Committee
215-906-4769 Philadelphia – 856-225-1718 Camden, NJ WePhillyRicans@gmail.com

Puerto Ricans in the United States must unite with Boricuas in the island to defend our nation. We must be open to discuss the issue of independence and the need to end the colonial status. Non-Puerto Ricans should learn about the criminal actions of the United States in PR: the bombing of Vieques and Culebra, the forced sterilization of women, the imposition of English, the destruction of PR’s economy, the poisoning of the environment with the pharmaceutical firms and now with Monsanto, the imposition of an illegitimate debt through its banks and financial agencies, and multiple other crimes. And all of us should expose companies and banks like Santander and demand reparations now!
FREE PUERTO RICO!

http://www.bhbanco.org/

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/03/16/514500/US-trump-racism-Abayomi-Azikiwe

US President Donald Trump has fueled racial tensions in the United States with his divisive rhetoric against Muslim and Hispanic immigrants, as well as other ethnic minorities, an African American journalist in Detroit says.

“Under the Trump administration, he has in fact fueled racism through his appointees, through his statements, through his executive orders, which have imposed bans on people from [several] majority-Muslim countries in Africa and the Middle East,” said Abayomi Azikiwe, editor at the Pan-African News Wire.

“This is going to continue under his administration unless there’s a major movement in the United States; a persistent effort to halt this type of bigotry,” Azikiwe said in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

“This sends a very bad signal to Muslims; to people who are from African American and Latino descent that this country is hostile,” he added.

Read More:

• Americans’ concerns about racism at record high

A new Gallup poll has found that almost half of Americans now say they are worried “a great deal” about race relations in the United States, which is a higher percentage than at any time since 2001 when Gallup began tracking the issue.

According to the poll, which was released Wednesday, 42 percent of people in the US are very worried over racial tensions, an increase of seven percentage points from 2016 and a record high in Gallup’s 17-year trend.

This is the third straight year Americans’ worries about racism have increased by a significant margin. In 2014, 17 percent said they worried a “great deal” about this issue; this climbed to 28 percent in 2015 and 35 percent in 2016.

Roanoke, VA

Blacksburg, VA

By Workers World Rockford, Ill., bureau posted on March 16, 2017

After working since July without a contract, more than 900 Rockford Public School workers from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees locals 692, 3210 and 1275 will be going on a three-day strike March 15-17. These locals represent the school paraprofessionals, nutritionists and bus drivers, respectively.

Workers World sat down with Pamela Hillyer, an AFSCME Local 692 paraprofessional worker, to hear from the rank and file about what led to the vote for a strike and what’s at stake for the workers.

Workers World: What has the school district done to the workers?

Pamela Hillyer: The main issue is around rising health care premiums that the school district is forcing on us, which equates to a substantial cut in our wages. The increased premiums would mean an approximately 1,145 percent rise in health care costs over the last three years, from roughly $43 to $544 every month. While the school district has said that they have gone “to great lengths to make sure employees came out ahead,” they have instead refused to negotiate with us and insist on the drastic attack on our health care. We are already grossly underpaid skilled workers.

WW: Why did the union decide to strike?

PH: The school district has refused to compromise or even have a genuine dialogue with the union about the proposed contract. After the last negotiation meeting, where the district put forth the same contract as their supposed “best and final offer,” the union knew it was time to increase pressure on the district to come to a fair compromise.

Here is the direct quote from AFSCME on the decision: “The elected AFSCME Bargaining Committee, from the paraprofessionals [to] bus drivers and nutritionists service workers, subsequently decided to conduct a three-day strike to send a strong message to the District that the members are frustrated with the extremely harsh proposal that the District imposed on employees in violation of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. AFSCME has filed an unfair labor practice with the Labor Board over this violation of law.”

WW: Will you continue striking if the workers’ needs aren’t met?

PH: The union has said they will do rolling strikes until they win a fair contract. It’s the only thing that makes sense, because why would we go on strike for three days, then give up if it doesn’t work immediately? We will be stuck with this contract for the next three years and struggling to afford health care.

WW: How has the school district responded to the strike?

PH: The superintendent, Ehren Jarrett, says he respects us, while at the same time demonizing us and twisting the facts in an attempt to pit the community against the union.

WW: How is the school providing services during the strike? Are they bringing in scabs?

PH: They might have the teachers take on the paraprofessionals’ positions, but if they do, the teachers’ union will be filing grievances. For the nutritionists, Auburn High School’s administration suggested to their gifted academy program students and parents that they volunteer to give out meals for supposed college credit. They won’t be able to provide transportation to the students, so they are putting it on the parents to get their children to and from school every day.

WW: What has been the community’s response, and are there any other groups supporting you?

PH: Many parents are confused and upset. Thousands of students will be without transportation and won’t receive the amount of care they need. A lot of confusion comes from the misleading information sent out by the school district, painting us as greedy. But we’ve also gotten help from youth activists, who are planning a solidarity march on March 14. They will gather at 201 7th Street at 5:15 p.m., then march to join a rally outside of the school administration building at 501 7th Street.

WW: How will the union win?

PH: The district is going to realize that they need us. The schools can’t properly function without us — whether we’re driving the buses, serving the food or taking care of students with special needs. They can try to continue to refuse any discussion, but eventually they are going to be pressured into a compromise, because we’re necessary to ensure a safe, positive learning environment.

The following schools, and possibly more, will have picket lines: Auburn High School, East High School, Guilford High School, Jefferson High School, West Middle School, Nashold Elementary, Rolling Green Elementary, Fairview Early Childhood Center and Summerdale Early Childhood Center. We urge all our Rockford readers to get out and show solidarity with RPS workers.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO

Our brothers and sisters in the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) are sounding the alarm on two anti-union bills working their way through Congress. AFGE members do a wide-range of government work such as inspecting the food we eat and the places we work, protecting citizens from the illicit flow of drugs, maintaining the safety of our nation’s borders, caring for our nation’s veterans, being a vital link to Social Security recipients and much, much more.

Right now, Anti-government employee lawmakers are trying to rush through bills that limit union rights and silence worker voices in the workplace. One bill attacks “official time,” a core principle of union rights that AFGE uses to help employees get fair representation in workplace disputes.

Here’s what you need to know about H.R. 1364, the Government-wide Anti-Union Representation Bill:

·         It eliminates the use of official time by making it far too difficult for managers and federal employees to successfully work together to address mission-related challenges

·         It revokes our union’s ability to stand up for workers who have been wrongfully fired, disciplined, harassed or intimidated

Disgusting, right? Wait until you hear about H.R. 1259, the VA Anti-Union Representation Bill:

·         This bill specifically targets Title 5 and Title 38 rights at the VA, and takes away all grievance rights for workers facing a removal, demotion or suspension

·         It gives agency officials the power to take back compensation you’ve already earned

·         The bill gives management the upper-hand by radically shortening the time unfairly fired VA workers can prepare their case

Here’s what we need you to do right now: Call the union rights hotline 1-855-976-5397 to connect with your lawmaker.

When the Representative’s office answers, tell them this:

“Hello, my name is _____, and I stand in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees union. Please tell the Representative to vote NO on H.R. 1364, and to vote NO on H.R. 1259. These bills do nothing to improve government. They simply attack workers’ rights and silence worker voices. Thank you.”

We must all work together to stop union busting dead in its tracks. Thank you for all that you do.

In solidarity,
Phil Neuenfeldt, President

Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Oct. 15, 2011.

Saturday, March 25, 10 AM – 7 PM State Hall, Room 101, Wayne State University, 5143 Cass, Detroit, MI 48202

Sunday, March 26, 10 AM – Noon McGregor Memorial Conference Center, Wayne State University



Sponsored by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University and endorsed by Workers World Party

Click here to register for the confrence and to view the agenda: M25 WWP Midwest Conference

Facebook event page: Midwest WWP Fight For National Liberation and Socialism Conference

Facebook:  Workers World Party – Michigan (WWP.michigan)

The Detroit branch of Workers World Party is co-hosting a Midwest Fightback Conference on March 25-26 with the Wayne State University branch of Students for a Democratic Society. WWP members from across the ravaged rustbelt will come together to put forward an analysis, forged in struggle, of the austerity, economic crises and national oppression that have come to characterize the region.

Guest speakers, such as the Venezuelan Consul General in Chicago and representatives of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, United Steelworkers Local 8751, will help elevate these struggles and analyze both locally and beyond the Midwest, attacking imperialism at its very roots here and ­internationally.

Detroit was once an epicenter of working-class power and the Black Liberation struggle. Today it is at the heart of capitalist decay, financial dictatorship and genocidal national oppression. Though these assaults have permeated throughout the U.S., Detroit has long served as the frontline in the war against workers and oppressed people. Bankers, desperate for every last dollar of profit, imposed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on the city of Detroit, looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the people.

Thousands of families have had their water shut off to help clear neighborhoods for corporate scum intent on colonizing the city. This ethnic cleansing was preceded by hundreds of thousands of home foreclosures in pursuit of the same goal. The devastation wrought to Detroit by Wall Street’s insatiable greed is very tangible and apparent. The homes, water, schools and communities of Detroit have all served as variables in an experimental project the ruling class wants to export throughout the U.S.

Confronting capital directly

The Detroit branch of WWP and its allies in the community have challenged this massive offensive head on, organizing revolutionary intervention and direct confrontations with the might of finance capital. Long before the municipal bankruptcy began, the very nature of capitalist relations were challenged. WWP raised the slogan “Make the banks pay!” — a demand that became the rallying cry of the movement.

Before the bankruptcy, during years of the ongoing foreclosure crisis, WWP members and friends were in the communities physically preventing foreclosures when court struggles failed. Throughout this fight, activists maintained the demand for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, while raising legal precedents and analysis proving a moratorium is a feasible, no-cost demand. At every turn Detroit comrades have faced down the guns of finance capital, forging a revolutionary analysis of late-stage capitalism through this struggle.

Detroit WWP, our allies in SDS and other Midwest WWP cadre are holding this conference to bring our depth of experience to the new period we have entered. Many officials in the Trump administration are taking their devastating austerity policies from the Midwest to the federal level, giving our cadre in this region a unique perspective on the new attacks facing the workers and oppressed. The conference will also dive into the deep crisis of the imperialist empire, bringing analysis on conflicts from Syria to Africa and tying them to the war at home against racism, fascism and exploitation.

If you want to truly see the lengths capital will go to secure its profits, and the lengths the masses will go to resist, be in Detroit March 25-26 to hear it from revolutionaries on the frontlines.

by Joe Mchahwar

Article reprinted from workers.org

For details, view the Facebook event page at ­tinyurl.com/zpnhrej; complete online registration at tinyurl.com/hqcpc2h.

Training for Lawyers Defending Protestors

National Lawyers Guild Madison is working to build their pool of attorneys who will take cases after arrests happen at civil demonstrations.

Their goal is to train attorneys who may not be familiar with criminal law and pair them with attorneys who are familiar to grow our pool of attorneys who can take these cases when the time comes.

WHEN: Thursday, March 16th, 2017
4:30 PM press conference, 5:00 PM rally

WHERE: In front of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) building, 101 W. Congress Parkway, downtown Chicago

On March 16th, 2017, Trump’s new version of the Muslim Ban will go into effect across the United States. This ban still affects people from 6 Arab, Muslim, and African countries

–Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Iran, and Syria. While the Trump administration has tried to apply cosmetic changes by excluding legal permanent residents and those who already have visas, one thing is clear–It is Still a Muslim Ban!

The new ban is cloaked in the same xenophobic, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim language of the first. In attacking Arabs and Muslims with War on Terror language, it is clear that the goal is to further target and criminalize our communities through racism.

This ban also comes on the heels of the ramping up of ICE activity as a result of the Department of Homeland Security memos on immigration

enforcement.  These dangerous memos have created a climate of repression and fear across immigrant communities in the U.S., especially Mexicans and Central Americans. This is why the Chicago welcoming city ordinance amendments, now in the city council, are so important to be passed.

In addition, this ban also comes as the Department of Justice, led by the racist Jeff Sessions, has promised to further criminalize protests, and take the gloves off local police departments, like Chicago’s, allowing them to get away with their brutality and crimes.

For these reasons, we say join us on March 16th at 4:30 PM at 101 W. Congress Parkway in downtown Chicago, as we so NO to the Muslim Ban, NO to ICE raids, and NO to the criminalization of Black communities and protest.

Facebook event page

AAAN’s Muhammad Sankari interviewed about the ban on Vocalo Radio