City of Madison Liunna Local 236 Travels to Standing Rock to Stand with Water Protectors

Posted on by
Reply

Madison City Employees LiUNA Local 236, many other workers turned out for the Labor For Standing Rock event at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers Oct. 29 #NoDAPL #Solidarity

City of Madison Liunna Local 236
Local 236 stood up for what is right in their support of Standing Rock. And they did it in spite of the fact they did not have the backing of the powers that be. It put them at risk. But, Laborers Union Intl, better known as Local 236 of Madison Wisconsin, prides themselves on being a public service union. And in that spirit, they journeyed to Standing Rock to give the Sioux a written resolution detailing their support. They did this with the clear intention of setting an example so that other Unions would take heed and follow suit. Local 236 hoped their courage would inspire others. And they were successful in this endeavor. The Madison Teachers Union will be following suit on Monday, November 7, 2016 by issuing their own written resolution stating unequivocally their support as well. ~Deana DeHaven

A statement by City of Madison liunna Local 236

“As most of you know, the city of Madison has passed a resolution to stand in solidarity with standing rock against the pipeline. Most also know that one of our alders was arrested there. We at liunna local 236 feel the need to take a stance on the issue. We know many unions are for the pipeline and just as many are against it. Due to how our city is situated between several large bodies of water that is a part of the Mississippi watershed, we strive as a whole, to keep our lakes clean. Because of the nature of our job we know that unlike air, water is a closed loop. What we have is all we get. Our lakes provide untold amounts of recreation along with what comes out of our taps. It must remain clean. The city government has worked with the indigenous tribes here to try and preserve their heritage. As a diversified group, we also understand wanting and keeping a heritage. We feel there would be more and better sustainable jobs if we invested in other types of energy that were not fraught with so many accidents. We stand proudly and in solidarity with the city of Madison, her citizens and the people of standing rock against the pipeline. After all, this is Madison. Thank you.”

liuna-local-236-standing-rock

#NoDAPL Earth Lodges – Winter Build

Posted on by
Reply

Help contribute to build earth lodges at Standing Rock: http://bit.ly/2fpyMAI

UPDATE: What a strong first day! We on the way to providing warm, safe shelters to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe + their allies as they continue their efforts to protect the waters and defend aboriginal homelands.

We have checked in with people at the camps and they are excited to hear these Lodges might just get built before the winter comes. These Earth Lodges will be a blend of the ancient and the modern, taking the best ideas into consideration through architectural and engineering.

Thank you to all who have contributed so far! Please keep sharing! http://bit.ly/2fpyMAI

earth-lodges-winter-build

Michael Letwin: Why I Am With Labor For Standing Rock

Posted on by
Reply

Nov 5, 2016 — On October 29-30, amidst escalating police violence, rank-and-file union members from around the U.S. established an ongoing Union Camp in support of indigenous resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

The Labor For Standing Rock delegation grew out of Labor for Palestine’s online petition (with more than 13,000 signers to date) calling on the AFL-CIO to end its support for DAPL, and support indigenous rights. Subsequent delegations of union members are mobilizing for Union Camp.

Here, Labor for Standing Rock co-founder Michael Letwin, public defender in New York and former president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325, provides some historical background for actions taking place in Standing Rock.

=====
To keep the momentum rolling, please:

Support Labor for Standing Rock by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/LaborStandingRock

U.S. Hands Off Syria An Urgent Message for Peace on the Eve of Wider War

Posted on by
Reply

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), https://www.unacpeace.org/, has joined with hundreds of organizations, prominent individuals and others to form the “Hands off Syria Coalition.”  Please click the link below to join the coalition and read the points of unity.

Please click here to add your name in support of the Hands off Syria Coalition

for a statement of the Coalition’s points of unity including a partial list of organization supporters in pdf form, please click here: http://nepajac.org/syriacoalitionstatement.pdf

Save the Date. The next UNAC conference will be on the weekend of April 21 – 23, 2017 in Richmond, VA. Please make a contribution to UNAC:  https://www.unacpeace.org/donate.html

a-20130907-Syria-TS-NYC-jcatDSC01923

Sept. 7 march in NYC from Union Square to Times Square.

Chicago, November 19: People’s Thanksgiving

Posted on by
Reply

25th Annual People’s Thanksgiving Dinner
Saturday, November 19th, 2016

4:00 – 8:00 pm

Dinner at 5:00, Program at 5:30

Location: Teamster City, Basement Level, 300 S. Ashland

Brothers and sisters –

We are excited to announce our special guest:

Standing Rock Sioux Historian, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard

With introductory remarks by Chicago’s own Rasmea Odeh

We’ll also present our annual awards to honor local activists Aislinn Pulley of Black Lives Matter; Michael Brunson, CTU Recording Secretary and head of the CTU Black Caucus; Dave Bernt of Teamsters United; and Juan Rojas and Cassie Robledo, who helped Shut Down Trump at UIC this spring.

Musical performances by KoStar

And an activity for children that teaches them about the struggles of indigenous people from Standing Rock to the Philippines

In these last months of 2016, it’s hard to miss that there are two things happening in the U.S.

First, there is a continued outpouring of protest coming from people suffering under racist, national oppression. The movement against police crimes continues, and with each murder of another unarmed Black or Latino person, the protests are growing. In North Dakota, the largest mobilization of Native Americans in over a century continues to stop the Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL) from carrying tar sands oil across indigenous lands and waters.

Second, the presidential elections reveal the crisis in the money-dominated two-party system. Wall Street’s candidate, Hillary Clinton, a war hawk, is running against a misogynist, racist, reality TV star, Donald Trump. Dissatisfaction with the status quo campaign of Clinton led to Bernie Sanders receiving 12 million votes in the primary. The racist base of the Republican Party pushed Trump into the nomination, leading to a massive movement to stop him. Nothing better expresses the urge to defeat Trump than the protest of 5000 led by students at UIC that confronted the hate show he brought to Chicago in March. It was clear that people rejected him, as we expect him to be on Election Day.

After the elections, we know that the coming years will feature a government with an austerity agenda, with continued attacks on working people and the poor, immigrants and the undocumented, Arabs and Muslims, and the racially and nationally oppressed. It is clear to everyone that the next administration will be militarily more aggressive.

What we need to do is to build and strengthen the people’s movements, including a revived, rank and file led labor movement. The best local example in the country of class struggle unionism is the Chicago Teachers Union, and nationally, the reform movement in the Teamsters. Movements of working people are our real hope.

We invite you to join us at the People’s Thanksgiving, where we’ll recognize those movements and activists that have inspired us this past year.

In struggle –

Joe Iosbaker, Freedom Road Socialist Organization
25th Annual People’s Thanksgiving Dinner
Fundraiser for Fight Back! /¡Lucha y Resiste! Newspaper
Hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Saturday, November 19th, 2016
4:00 – 8:00 pm
Dinner at 5:00 pm, Program at 5:30
Location: Teamster City, Basement Level, 300 S. Ashland
Tickets: $30
Please RSVP
Includes dinner. $5 for little children & the unemployed. Cash Bar.
To order tickets, and if you need childcare, email joeiosbaker@gmail.com

Workers World Party Conference in NYC November 11-13, 2016

Posted on by
Reply
The elections are not the last word — keep fighting for socialism!Join Workers World Party and hundreds of activists from around the country and the world for the annual WWP National Conference on Nov. 11-13 in New York.

2016 has seen nothing short of an assault on the movement for justice, liberation and self-determination. But it has also been an incredible year of struggle, where the most militant people have risen up to say no more to exploitation, violence and repression, all facilitated by capitalism.

The conference will come only days after the presidential elections. Working and oppressed people will, without a doubt, be disappointed by the results. But where will we go from there? How will we channel our righteous rage and frustration into action? These are the questions we will take up as we honor the brave young people, communities and organizers who have confronted power and are claiming the future.

Regardless of who becomes the next president of the United States, we know that the truth remains: So long as the U.S. has the ability to terrorize Black and Brown people at home and abroad, so long as workers can barely afford to live, so long as LGBTQ people and women are under attack, so long as the politicians, bosses and bankers rule our lives, we must fight, fight, fight!

If you are interested in learning about and discussing why we must keep fighting for socialism, join Workers World Party at the Malcolm X & Betty Shabazz Center in New York City — the historical site of the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965.

The annual WWP National Conference will convene revolutionaries and organizers from the frontlines of struggles, from Black Lives Matter to Palestine Solidarity, from anti-war to Fight for $15, from the LGBTQ struggle to women’s liberation and immigrants’ rights.

We lift up the struggles that need solidarity, not only here in the U.S. but also around the world — to end the blockade still on Cuba, end U.S. war aggression in Syria, stop the subversion of Venezuela, and show solidarity with migrants to the U.S. and the European Union. We lift up the banners of internationalism and socialist unity to build toward a revolution that will liberate all workers and oppressed people.

We choose ourselves — not the warmonger Hillary Clinton who called Black youths “predators,” not the hate-mongering billionaire Donald Trump who nurtures Klan and Nazi types. We choose solidarity — not the state’s tools of division, not the comfort of isolation.

We choose the movement — not the lies of the election, not the idea that the powers that be will fall on their own. We choose a path to revolution — not the lure of a softer, kinder capitalism, not another day of chains and cages. Let us continue to build the movement against capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and more!

Black Lives Matter! Defend Native sovereignty! Abolish the police! Smash capitalism! LGBTQ liberation now! End women’s oppression! Free Palestine! The working class has no borders!

http://www.workers.org/wwp/

wwp-national-conference-nov-2016