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Could Wisconsin be the next Flint, Michigan?

A terrible new bill that threatens the safety and affordability of our drinking water is making its way through the Wisconsin legislature.

The Fast Path to Water Privatization Bill, Assembly Bill 554/Senate Bill 432, would allow for out-of-state, for-profit, private conglomerates to gobble up Wisconsin’s municipal public water systems without citizen input. Currently, by law, local citizens must vote to okay the sale of public water system. The Republican-backed bill making its way through the Wisconsin legislature would thwart the democratic process and allow for sales of water services without a vote of public support.

The safety of our water system is of huge importance to each and every Wisconsin resident, young, old and in-between. We don’t want another Flint, Michigan water crisis in Wisconsin. Private water companies buy water systems in the hopes of profiting big from what should be a public good and basic human right.

SIGN PETITION: http://tinyurl.com/ha4ab8p

With little time left in the legislative session, this bill is rocketing through the legislature with distressing speed. AB 554 was introduced on December 1, 2015, and referred to Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities. It was voted out of committee on December 15, 2015. It was voted out of the full Assembly on a voice vote on January 12, 2016. SB 432 was introduced on December 3, 2015 and referred to the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Public Works, and Military Affairs. It had a public hearing on January 5, 2016 and was voted out of Senate Committee on January 28, 2016.

The Senate and Governor still have to take action on this bill that paves the way to privatize our water without citizen support. The Senate is currently scheduled to meet for a floor session on February 9, 2016 and could take up the Fast Path to Water Privatization Bill then.

We know how important it is to have public employees, many of who are AFSCME members, working on the front-lines to ensure safe drinking water.

SIGN PETITION: http://tinyurl.com/ha4ab8p

In Solidarity,

Phil Neuenfeldt, President

Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer, WI AFL-CIO

[Photo: Joe Brusky]

http://www.bhbanco.org/

Building A Movement To Fight Racism, Police Terror, Deportations, & The Capitalist Prison System

Across the country Black and Brown people face violence, incarceration, and murder at the hands of the police and prison system. From Black Lives Matter taking on killer cops to immigrant youth standing against ICE, people have been building a movement to challenge these racist institutions.

How can we continue to build this movement?

Join the discussion with a panel of speakers including:
*Local activists & community organizers
*Pam Africa – of the MOVE Organization & Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
*Lamont Lilly – Vice Presidential candidate of Workers World Party

420 N. Main Street
Emerson House of the Mendelssohn Center
Free & open to the public
Hosted by Workers World Party
Contact info:
facebook.com/rockfordwwp
424-262-3478
rockford@workers.org

http://usuncut.com/black-lives-matter/united-nations-us-should-give-reparations/

During a recent visit to the United States, a United Nations (UN) working group has said that the US should consider giving long overdue reparations to descendants of slaves. The group also suggests the US government establish a national human rights commission, and publicly acknowledge that the Transatlantic Slave Trade was a crime against humanity.

The UN working group, called “Experts on People of African Descent,” went on a fact-finding mission, which included meetings with African-Americans from multiple cities, including Baltimore, New York, and Chicago. Although they won’t release their full report until September, each member read a statement to the press. The group stated that they are “extremely concerned about the human rights situation of African Americans.” At a press conference, Chairwoman Mireille Fanon Mendes-France compared police brutality against the black community to Jim Crow-era racial violence:

“The colonial history, the legacy of enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism, and racial inequality in the US remains a serious challenge as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent. Contemporary police killings and the trauma it creates are reminiscent of the racial terror lynchings in the past. Impunity for state violence has resulted in the current human rights crisis and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Some members expressed shock at the revelations they experienced during their trip.

“It’s very easy in the United States for African Americans to be imprisoned, and that was very concerning,” said South African Sabelo Gumedze, a member of the United Nations group.

The group also said they find the lack of a “national system to track killings committed by law enforcement officials” unacceptable. They also noted that despite initiatives to reduce mandatory minimum sentencing, the war on drugs has “led to mass incarceration that is compared to enslavement, due to exploitation and dehumanization of African-Americans.” The group even spoke about the school to prison pipeline, and how it recreates the current situation that African-Americans are in.

The real question is whether the US government will even consider these recommendations. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both opposed reparations in the past. Even democratic socialist Bernie Sanders called reparations “divisive,” and instead suggests that the government improve infrastructure to create jobs in poor areas, and make public colleges and universities tuition-free.

If the current president, and every presidential candidate is in opposition to reparations, it’s unlikely we will see many politicians jump in and support this cause. The same UN group also visited the US in 2010, and came to similar conclusions.

The group will release their final findings this September in Geneva, Switzerland to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Coalition For Justice protest August 8, 2015 in Milwaukee [Photo Credit: C.M. Despears]