Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968 standing with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, TN demanding basic union rights. Yet, still today, workers in North Carolina are denied the basic right to collective bargaining. Charlotte City workers have been forced to work 12 hour days 6 or 7 days a week in preparation for the Democratic National Convention and are given harsh disciplines for minor infractions such as running over a curb. Meanwhile, the City Manager recently gave himself a hefty 2nd raise for the year, totaling over $20,000.

The attack on collective bargaining that was observed this past year in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and beyond was an outgrowth of the unsolved battle against Right-to-work (for less) laws that still plague the US South. Now the Democratic National Convention is being hosted in the least unionized state. Charlotte is also home of more banks than anywhere outside of New York, this is why organizers are calling it the Wall Street of the South. Yet, this rich city cannot find enough money to give the workers a decent raise or recognize their demands for a City Workers Bill of Rights.

In the lead up to DNC, Charlotte City Workers Picket to Demand Fairness and Recognition of Human Rights

Over the past few weeks in the lead up to the Democratic National Convention, Charlotte city workers have been picketing city council demanding recognition of their basic worker rights. As the City of Charlotte uses its status as host of the DNC to boast that it is a world-class city, the rank-n-file workers that keep the city clean and safe are being denied their basic rights at work. UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union has released the below open letter to the Obama Administration, Charlotte City Council and state elected officials to honor and enact a Municipal Workers Bill of Rights ordinance and to follow through on the ruling of United Nation’s International Labor Organization ruling to repeal ban on collective bargaining for public employees.

“The hard work we do is vital for this city to function, so we are asking the City Council to address our needs and rights as workers and to establish a system of meet-and-confer with us to discuss how to keep the city running smoothly through the convention,” stated Al Locklear, a sanitation worker and President of UE150 chapter of Charlotte City Workers Union. “When we saw that the city manager received two raises this year totaling over $20,000 yet we hardly didn’t get anything, we realized that our hard work is not recognized.”

City workers are are campaigning for the adoption of a City Workers Bill of Rights so that they have decent working conditions and be paid a decent wage for their hard work. UE150 union members are also requesting representation in grievance hearings and also voluntary payroll deduction for workers that choose to join the union. The United Nation’s International Labor Organization (ILO) found North Carolina’s ban on collective bargaining to be in violation of international labor standards. In that decision the ILO called on the United States government to “promote the establishment of a collective bargaining framework in the public sector in North Carolina” and called specifically for the repeal of NCGS § 95-98. The City of Charlotte does have the authority to meet-n-confer with the union and grant other basic union rights such as pay roll deduction, as is done in at least three other cities across the state and for all state employees.

“We are sick and tired of being given 30 day suspensions without pay for minor infractions, this can be devastating to a worker’s life” stated Barbara Edgecombe, who is a sanitation worker and Secretary-Treasurer for the City Workers Union chapter of UE150. “Then when we get suspended, we are not even given the basic right to representation to give us a fair chance to defend ourselves on the job.”

Charlotte City Workers Union chapter along with the statewide UE150, NC Public Service Workers Union and dozens of other unions and workers organizations from states across the US South will be participating in the Southern Workers Assembly on Monday, September 3 on Labor Day, the opening day of the DNC to continue to raise their demands for recognition of a Workers Bill of Rights. The Southern Workers Assembly is asking for other national unions to endorse and send support for their efforts to organize the South and build a long-term Southern Labor Alliance. More information can be found at http://southernworker.org

ATTEND THE SOUTHERN WORKERS’ ASSEMBLY, MONDAY SEPT 3, 1-5 PM, Wedgewood Baptist Church, 4800 Wedgewood Dr, Charlotte, NC! Go to http://southernworker.org for more info.

Original Article

In exactly seven days, on September 10, 2012, we here at People Of Color Organize! will be begin our 2012 Fund Drive.  By supporting this Fund Drive you will be helping us to continue to bring you independent media that matters to you!  For your donation we have a lot of exclusive Perks which include over 13 and a half hours of exclusive audio interviews with activists, intellectuals, independent media giants, and more.  In addition to the exclusive audio interviews, we also have some extra special Perks as well.  So spread the word, because September 10, 2012 is the date our Fund Drive goes live!  Until then, here is the complete listing and a short biography of all of the interviewees on our exclusive audio for our 2012 Fund Drive.  Download the PDF by clicking here!

Original Article

When I heard recently that the National Association of Hispanic Journalists had accepted $100,000 from PepsiCo, with half of the money going toward scholarships and internships for journalism students, I was taken back to 1988 and a smoke-filled hotel conference room in Washington D.C.

I had just been elected to NAHJ’s board of directors, and we were debating whether or not to accept a sizeable contribution from tobacco giant Philip Morris.

“I don’t have any problems with Philip Morris,” I remember a fellow board member saying after she took a deep drag from her cigarette, clearly ignoring the irony.

I said something about it not being a good idea while puffing on a Benson & Hedges Deluxe Ultra Light Menthol 100. Several of us were smoking while we discussed the subject.

Like tobacco use, rising consumption of sugary drinks has become a major public health concern. Studies show that soda, sports drinks and other high-calorie beverages are major contributors to obesity and related illnesses including diabetes and heart disease (research shows diet drinks aren’t all that good for you either).

And like the tobacco industry, soft drink companies target young people and communities of color — groups that suffer the highest rates of obesity-related diseases.

I don’t know whether anyone on the NAHJ board or staff pointed out the parallels between the generous Philip Morris and PepsiCo gifts. Or whether there was even any debate about accepting the money. These are tough times, especially for the journalism industry.

Yet, just like taking money from tobacco, accepting funding from the soda industry can put organizations like NAHJ on a slippery slope, with the potential to risk their values, integrity and public trust.

There are other parallels between tobacco and soda, as highlighted in a June 19 report by Berkeley Media Studies Group and the Public Health Advocacy Institute, “Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?”

“Because sugary beverages are implicated in the national as well as global obesity crisis, soda manufacturers have recently employed elaborate, expensive, multinational corporate social responsibility campaigns [that] echo the tobacco industry’s use of such campaigns as a way to focus responsibility on consumers rather than on the corporations,” the study noted.

These campaigns also seek to bolster the popularity of soda companies and their products and prevent regulation (meanwhile employing tobacco industry tactics in aggressively fighting policy proposals such as soda taxes and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial measure to limit sugary drink portion sizes).

In a press release, PepsiCo announced that the NAHJ contribution was part of La Promesa [The Promise] of PepsiCo, a corporate social responsibility campaign “that focuses specifically on Latino empowerment and the issues that matter most to Hispanics including Latino education, employment opportunities, promoting active lifestyles, and investing in science to develop healthier products.”

As part of its “Promesa,” PepsiCo also made significant contributions to other national Latino organizations including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and historic civil rights groups League of United Latin American Citizens and National Council of La Raza.

One only has to watch the latest TV commercial by the American Beverage Association, which represents PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, to see that they are doing everything they can to convince the public — and their shareholders — of their corporate social responsibility.

Titled “We’re Delivering,” the ad touts the beverage industry’s role in addressing the nation’s obesity crisis (without really saying so): “For our families, our neighbors and our communities, America’s beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices, developing smaller portion sizes, and more low and no-calorie beverages. Adding clearer calorie labels so you know exactly what you’re choosing. And in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower calorie options.”

The problem is that despite the fact that beverage companies in the U.S. spent nearly a half billion dollars in 2006 to market directly to children ages 2-17, and each year, youth are exposed to hundreds of TV and digital ads, the beverage industry aggressively rejects claims that its products and marketing practices play any role in the obesity epidemic.

The beverage industry says it’s about consumers making poor choices and not increasing their level of physical activity yet ignores the context in which those decisions are made. It is disingenuous and deceptive to deny the contribution sugary drinks make to the obesity epidemic. It fails to recognize the collaboration it will take between industry, government and consumers to solve the obesity crisis.

Meanwhile, the question remains: Should influential organizations representing the media, elected officials and civil rights advocates receive financial support from soda if it means not holding the industry accountable for its part in the obesity problem as well as the solution?

I know that if I were back on the board of NAHJ, an organization I am proudly a lifetime member of, I would at least put it up for discussion — admittedly between sips of Diet Coke.

Originally spotted at New American Media

Original Article

The Continental Day of Action for the Withdrawal of UN Troops From Haiti — a proposal first launched at the Continental Rally that brought together more than 600 people at the chambers of the Sao Paulo City Council in November 2011 — was a victory in the fight for the Haitian people’s sovereignty, with events and demonstrations across the entire continent.

There were activities in 10 countries, including the United States and Mexico and, in the Caribbean, in places such as Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Dominican Republic. There were also demonstrations in Haiti proper. In South America, there were events in Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil that marked June 1 as the day to fight for the immediate withdrawal of the troops of MINUSTAH (UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti).

The events — directed at governments, particularly those that keep troops on Haitian soil — demanded the immediate withdrawal of MINUSTAH from Haiti. MINUSTAH has been occupying and repressing the country for the past eight years. It has brought cholera and exploited the misery of the Haitian people in “free zones” created by U.S. imperialism (Hope Law), which are without laws or rights.

As a result of this unprecedented initiative, the governments of Argentina, Brazil and Peru, which keep troops in Haiti, were forced to receive delegations.

In Brazil, there were more than 14 actions in 11 states, including Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, the Federal District, Pernambuco, Parana, Rio de Janiero, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo.
In a message from the CUT trade union federation (Unified Workers’ Central, Brazil), Joao Felicio, secretary of international relations, affirmed that “the demand for the withdrawal of UN troops from Haiti is in order because although they are under Brazilian military command, it must be up to the Haitian people, with complete sovereignty, to define their own destiny.”

Continental Committee

Haiti - Fignole St. Cyr, Autonomous Confederation of Haitian Workers (CATH)
United States - Colia Clark, veteran of the Civil Rights movement of the ’60s
Bolivia - Nelson Guevara Aranda, Mining Workers Union of Huanuni
Uruguay - Hugo Dominguez, Sind. Metalurgicos, PIT-CNT, and Andres Uriostes, coordinator for the Withdrawal of UN Troops Campaign
Argentina - Natalia Saralegui, Argentine Committee for the Withdrawal of UN Troops, and Prof. Henry Boisrolin, Haitian Democratic Committee of Argentina
France - Jean Marquiset, Independent Workers Party (POI)
Brazil - Julio Turra, Unified Workers Central (CUT); Joaquin Pinero, Landless Rural Workers (MST); Rosi Wansetto, Jubileo Sur; Joelson Souza, Revolution Youth; Milton Barbosa, Unified Black Movement (MNU); Markus Sokol, O Trabalho Current of the Brazilian Workers Party (PT); Claudio Santos, secretary of the Fight Racism of the PT and SOS Racism; Barbara Corrales, Committee “To Defend Haiti is to Defend Ourselves”; Lucia Skromov, Pro-Haiti Committee; Deputy Adriano Diogo (PT/SP)

Contact: comitedefenderhaiti@uol.com.br

Day of Action in 10 Countries Demands the Immediate End to the Haitian Occupation!

UNITED STATES:

In New York, in front of the UN headquarters, the following demands were raised: “End the US-MINUSTAH occupation! Get the troops out of Haiti!” The rally was sponsored by the Guadeloupe-Haiti Campaign Committee, International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H), ANSWER Coalition (NY), Colia Clark Committee, Green Party (NY), Free Mumia Committee; International Action Center (IAC), Haiti Network (ISHN), Konbit Ayisyen pou Kore Lakay (KAKOLA), Lavalas Family (NY), Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the World Workers Party (WWP). There were also events in St. Louis and in Pescadero, Calif.

MEXICO:

In front of the U.S. Mmbassy in Mexico (photo above), more than 70 union activists (SME - Mexican Electrical Worker’s Union), the Workers and People’s Political Organization (OPT) and an organization of Haitian residents delivered a letter to the ambassador. On the border, in Mexicali-Calexico, there was an action that brought together around 40 people from different organizations, including the church, teachers, officials and OPT activists.

ARGENTINA:

The delegation of the Committee for the Withdrawal of Argentine Troops and the Solidarity Committee for Haiti — formed by Fernando Pita of CTA-capital, Cecilia Cordoba of Juventud Rebelde-Rebelion, Manuel Martinez of Socialismo Libertario, Ricardo Properzi of the Unified Workers Socialist Party (PSTU), Ezequiel Slafer, Antoine B. Simounet — were met by Andres Rosconi of the Office of Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, who proposed to organize a meeting with Minister Pablo Tettamanti.

PERU:

A delegation (photo above) headed by Leopoldo Ortiz Centy, secretary of Institutional Relations for the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), delivered a letter to President Ollanta Humala. It was received in the Congress of the Republic by the leader of the government bloc, Deputy Wilder Ruiz Loayza. The meeting concluded with the commitment that the requested motion would be presented by the member of Congress. The letter was signed by 60 representatives of more than 50 unions, farmer and youth organizations, the Political and Popular Movement of Peru, the dock workers union FENTENAPU, the sugar workers union FTAP, the state water workers union SUTESAL, Political Movement “Project San Marcos,” and the Committee for a Workers Party - International Socialist Current.

ECUADOR:

In Quito, 40 union activists from different regions of the country held a National Meeting for the Self-determination of Peoples (photo above) and delivered a letter to President Rafael Correa in which they asked for the withdrawal of Ecuadoran troops from Haiti.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

In Santo Domingo, a protest brought together unionists, political organization activists and youth at the local office of the UN, where they delivered a letter for the UN secretary general demanding the withdrawal of troops.

GUADELOUPE:

A public forum organized by the LKP strike collective brought together 70 participants, where they directed a letter to the UN secretary and those governments with troops in Haiti, demanding the withdrawal of the troops and the sovereignty of the world’s first Black republic (photo below).

MARTINIQUE:

On the campus of the Schoelcher University, the Forum “4H for Haiti, the world’s first Black republic” included the participation of Josue Merilen, a Haitian and leader of UNNOH, the national union of Haitian professors. At the end, they created the “Committee for the Withdrawal of Troops.”

BRAZIL:

- Rio Grande do Sul:

With more than 100 people (photo above), including representatives of eight quilombos (Brazilian African settlements) in the state, as well as union activists, young Brazilian students, Africans and various educators, they were united in celebration by the Porto Alegre Act and in the fight for the land titles of the quilombos residents. They are also against against the Unconstitutionality Action of the rightist party DEM in the Supreme Court, which, if approved, negates the Decree of 2003 that regulates the quilombo land titles. The mass action was attended Laercio Barbosa (DR PT), Milton Barbosa (national MNU leadership), Silvia Viera ( MNU/RS), Tiago Maciel, Revolution Youth (JR/RJ), Marcelo Carlini (CUT-RS), Ortiz por Quilombo (Candiota/RS), Margarete Periera-Quilombo, Macaco Branco (Portao/RS) and Onir Araujo of the National Front for the Defense of Lands of Quilombolas.

- Brasilia:

150 young people were at the Government Palace to protest against the occupation of Haiti at the instigation of JR-IRJ. A commission formed by the union leaders and student movement, including Ismael Cesar and Andres (CUT-DF), Oton Nieves (Sindsep-DF, Jean Loiola (FENAJUFE), Marcius Siddartha (PT-DF), Milena Alcantera (UMES Gama), Jhonatan Lucas (UBES), Guilheme Shandler (JR-IRL), was met by Audo Faleiro (advisor to the secretary of International Relations of the Presidency of the Republic). The commission presented the demand and denounced the many abuses of UN troops in Haiti (photo below). He committed to inform President Dilma Rousseff and to arrange a meeting with Gilberto Caravalho (secretary general of Presidency of the Republic). The leaders of of CUT, Ismael (CUT) and Oton (Sindsef) presented a report-back to the plenary of CUT Congress.

- Parana:

In Curuba, activists distributed pamphlets June 1. In Sarandi, there was a debate in the Chamber, with the participation of Alderman Bianco (PT) and the cabinet of Congressman Thadeu Veneri (PT). The students of the State University of Maringa (UEM) formed a committee.

- Santa Catarina:

In the CUT Congress, representatives of the MST and MNU, Alderman Battisti, Lucia Cabriera and the JR/IRJ decided to form a committee in the state.

- Pernambuco:

The nucleus of JR-IRJ of UFR-PE, the Sintragui union and the CUT distributed pamphlets against the presence of MINUSTAH troops in Haiti.

- Bahia:

Union activists from the leadership of the unions Sindpec, Sindados, Sindvigilante, Sindpetro and youth met in at a forum-debate in Salvador.

- Ceara:

Workers and youth participated in debate event promoted by the JR-IRJ at the headquarters of the CUT-CE.

- Sao Paulo:

Five events occurred: In the capital, a letter was delivered to the cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic, demanding a meeting with Defense Minister Celso Amorim Osasco; there was a discussion between CUT coordinator Tafarel and Congressman Marcos Martins (PT/SP); In Ribeirao Preto, there was a discussion in the Chamber of the City Council, which led to the formation of a committee; and two debates were organized in the Guaruihos region.

The Governments of Peru, Argentina and Brazil Are Compelled to Receive Delegations

In Peru, the leaders of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) delivered a letter to President Ollanta Humala reiterating the demand for the withdrawal of the 372 Peruvian soldiers in MINUSTAH. At the end of the session, a government deputy committed to presenting the motion to Congress that would cancel the sending of troops.

In Argentina, the director of the Government Commission for Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, Andrea Rosconi, received a delegation and committed to organizing a session with Minister Pablo Tettamanti.
In Brazil, the petition request for a meeting with the government — signed by Joao Felicio (CUT), by members of the Workers Party’s leadership (Fernando Ferro - PT/DF; Adriano Diogo - PT/DF; Markus Sokol - DN of the Workers Party) — was marked by a meeting July 10 with Minister of Defense Celso Amorim. Audo Faleiro, advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, received a delegation in Brasilia and proposed a public session in the National Congress.

June 1 Mobilizations in Haiti

In the Streets of Cap-Haitien, the People Demand: Down with MINUSTAH! Down with MINUSTAH!

Organized June 1 by CATH (Autonomous Confederation of Haitian Workers) — together with other unions and popular organizations, such as OFDPA, KITAM, VISODHA, OBDA, AFDH, AFEKONO and FTN — the activists demanded the immediate withdrawal of MINUSTAH (UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti).

In the document, they declared: “CATH, a union body that shares the values and ideals of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) and that is a member of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H), organized the event to make the Continental Day of Action effective. The Continental Day of Action was called in Brazil at the end of 2011 with seven countries present. It was further approved at the conference in Cap-Haitien/Vertieres in November last year.
In the streets of Cap-Haitien, the slogans were: Down with MINUSTAH! Down with MINUSTAH! The activists demanded compensation from the UN for all the cholera victims as well as decent salaries for all categories of workers. They objected to the loss of sovereignty with the dismantling of the 1987 Haitian Constitution. They demanded a true public service to satisfy the needs of everyone, as well as the protection of agricultural lands and the development of national production. They demanded a national security force capable of responding to the desires of the people — not one created with the participation of the occupiers (MINUSTAH). They also asked for job creation in the agro-industrial sector to improve agricultural production in the context of Haiti’s economic, social and cultural development.

Finally, they called for “maintaining international solidarity with the independent and democratic union movement to make sure that the fight for the withdrawal of the UN (MINUSTAH) troops becomes a reality.”

Positive Outcome of the Mobilization of June 1, 2012 in Port-au- Prince, According to Organizers, More Video

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Despite the difficulties encountered during the mobilizations of Friday, June 1, 2012 against the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the balance sheet of the different activities undertaken in several countries remains positive and the fight continues, says one of the leaders in Haiti’s protest against the UN force, Yves Pierre-Louis.

“The goal of this movement is to force the elected leaders in the various countries with troops in Haiti to assume their responsibilities and oppose the occupation of our land by UN soldiers, who have not stopped sowing grief among our families even now eight years after their intervention into our country,” said Pierre-Louis.

Many of the actions against MINUSTAH during this day of mobilization in Haiti were organized by the Collective demanding reparations for the victims of the cholera epidemic and the Association of Social Communicators (AKP).

Marked by sit-ins, protests and delegations at embassies in several countries, the mobilizations in Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince included a march and an exhibition of photographs of victims of the UN troops in Haiti. At the sound of drums and cymbals, a few hundred people took to the streets of Port-au-Prince on June 1, chanting slogans hostile to the UN mission.

Stopped by a “security unit” of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), the demonstrators did not, however, reach the Champ de Mars, the main public square of the city near which lie the ruins of the National Palace .

“The National Police and MINUSTAH units that are but Siamese twins”, they protesters scowled. The march finally ended up at the parliament building, where a strong message was read. The statement demanded justice and reparations for the 7,000 persons who died of cholera, the epidemic whose spread since October 2010 is widely attributed to the Nepalese contingent of MINUSTAH, as well as justice for the many Haitian women raped by soldiers of the UN force.

A short video of the march in Port-au-Prince can be viewed at:

“http://www.youtube.com/embed/hXuVB7vK958”

(report published June 5, 2012 by Alter-Presse)

Meanwhile, Brazilian Troops Tried to Invade the Capital’s University

The following message was sent out by the Reparations Collective for the Victims of Cholera against the Friday, June 15 invasion by MINUSTAH’s Brazilian troops in the Port-au-Prince Humanities School compound.

The university president, Jean Vernet Henry, said that there were three attempts to invade the school — all on the same day — causing panic among students and professors.

“The blue helmets of Brazil [MINUSTAH] interrupted a joint meeting being held at the university. This was a meeting of the Reparations Collective, which is a committee that supported and built the June 1 Continental Day of Action. We denounce with great indignation the intervention and intimidation at the university on the part of the MINUSTAH troops. Once again, MINUSTAH demonstrated what it is: A force of occupation and repression. We see once again that our constitution, our laws and the right that our university are violated as these are nothing more than paper words for the MINUSTAH. We cannot forget that this isn’t the first time that MINUSTAH has tried to intimidate us and, without any provocation, to invade university space.”

Original Article

Not many tracks rock the familiar rhythm of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” and reference Arizona racism as well as the Zapatistas, amid L.A.’s Homeboy/Homegirl Industries, but Las Cafeterias do. They’re even offering the song for free download.

[youtube 9xv-FjbXaqk]

Original Article