[869] in peace2
update! ACTION!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Boston Jobs WIth Justice)
Mon Jul 9 14:58:35 2001
Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20010709130523.00aed220@pop.mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 14:56:58 -0400
To: solidarity_summer2001@hotmail.com
From: Boston Jobs WIth Justice <bostonjwj@mindspring.com>
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solidarity summer update!
I. ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT
II. Last Thursday's workshop/meeting notes
III. Summer Survey: fill this out to give input into the summer workshops etc.
_______________________________________________________________
I. ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT
Action Alert #1
Rally Against Cruelty to Workers! Support Organizing at MSPCC!
4-6 p.m., Tuesday, July 10 at the Mass Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), 399 Boyleston Street, Boston, MA (near the
Arlington St. MBTA/Green Line). This year, workers at the Boston Region of
the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children decided
to organize, but the agency, despite its public image of caring for people,
fought the workers each step of the way. On April 11, workers voted by an
overwhelming 4-1 margin to affiliate with SEIU Local 509. BUT MSPCC IS
REFUSING TO BARGAIN. The NLRB has issued a complaint against MSPCC for
their refusal to bargain. Other complaints are pending for numerous charges
of discrimination and retaliation for union activity, including the firing
of a union activist. Call Joyce Strom, Executive Director of MSPCC, (617)
587-1500 and tell her to obey the law and start bargaining. For more info
call Anne Herbst, SEIU Local 509 Organizing Director, @ (800) 509-7348.
Action Alert #2 !
Solidarity Summer Action to support striking janitors in Baltimore!
4:00pm, Friday, July 13. to participate or for more information e-mail
Arin, at <adube@nber.org> or call Jobs with Justice (617) 524-8778 and ask
for Jane! Details will not be posted- please e-mail or call!
_______________________________________________________________
II. Last Thursday- workshop/meeting notes
Agenda:
*introductions
*what is solidarity summer
*presentation on Emerson part-time faculty organizing
*presentation on the Harvard Living Wage Campaign
*discussion: what can we learn from these case studies
*discussion: what do we want to organize together this summer?
*introductions:
25 people, including people from many different colleges and organizations
*what is solidarity summer
(Jane and Brad) Basically we just went over why we wanted to organize this
thing- group goals:
-to provide training and useful education to youth activists in Boston
-to bring together youth activists from different schools, organizations,
and neighborhoods so that we can support each others struggles and work
together
-to connect youth activists to local struggles and the labor movement in Boston
This program is being organized largely by Jobs with Justice- but we want
to strike a balance with our focus on labor activism and other interests of
participants.
We will have workshops every other week, and attend or organize actions
throughout the summer.
*part-time faculty organizing at Emerson (The Emerson Underground Youth
Movement- Brad)- This year part-time faculty at Emerson successfully
organized into a union with the help of undergraduate activists who helped
organize the part-time faculty themselves, generated support in the student
body, and held creative actions to pressure the university.
*harvard living wage (Roona form the Harvard Living Wage Campaign, and
Frank, Harvard Custodian)- Over the past two years the campaign has done
outreach to students, workers, faculty, press, unions, alumni, and the
community which all came together this year in the successful sit-in.
*Discussion: what can we learn?
What were some successful strategies?
-exhausting all possibility of negotiation before resorting to extreme
direct action
-dialog with workers- listening
-coalition building
-choosing a fairly non-controversial issue
What were some difficulties/weaknesses?
-not focusing on enough on anti-racist, anti-imperialist aspects of the
struggle
-difference between what the administration says and does
-workers feared retaliation and were targeted by the administration
*Discussion: what do we want to organize together this summer?
Brainstorming workshop ideas:
-american labor history pre 1990
-the new labor movement
-students as workers
-youth for justice
-economics of corporate greed
-meeting facilitation
-one-on-one organizing
-non-violent CD
-creative direct action
-organizing across difference: race, gender, class
-community organizing, community based teach-ins
-anti- corporate or university as corporation research
Brainstorm possible actions:
-picket line support for strikes
-rally to support MSPCC workers (THIS WEEK, tuesday!)
-action to support janitors in Baltimore (THIS WEEK, friday)
-visit the mexican consulate in support of sweatshop workers in Kukdong
-wheat-pasting
Then we decided to do the two ACTIONS described above and to talk again at
the end of the next workshop about future actions
_______________________________________________________________
III. Summer Survey- fill this out to give input into the summer workshops etc.
reply to this e-mail
name:
school/organization:
e-mail:
phone number:
year of graduation if applicable:
Answer below yes/no- only a few of these will actually occur. We're trying
to choose, and please give us more suggestions!
1) What workshops would you attend?
American Labor History Prior to 1990: A local labor leader will give an
overview of the historical context and how it affected his experience
organizing meat-packers in Boston. Discussion will focus on race and labor
movement, the role of national unions, and union politics. __________
The New Labor Movement: A Boston Union leader will discuss recent
development in the labor movement since the election of John Sweeney as the
president of the AFL-CIO, and discuss how it relates to his experience in
the recent UPS strike. __________
Students Are Workers Too: RA's and cafeteria student workers will discuss
their experience organizing themselves at U Mass Boston. __________
Youth for Justice: This event would bring together college and high school
activists from all over Boston to tell each other about their activism and
discuss how to support each other's struggles. Music, performance, and
food, hosted by Teen Empowerment and SLAP. __________
The Economics of Corporate Greed: Labor economists will explain recent
economic trends, corporate growth, and effects on working
people. Activists will then discuss how to run corporate campaigns with a
focus on how to run an anti- aramark or sodexo campaign. ___________
Immigrant Organizing________ Workers Center examples__________
YOUR IDEAS:
2) What trainings would you attend?
meeting facilitation training__________
Using and making political art____________
One-on-one organizing: how to talk to workers on your campus or how to
organize fellow student workers?___________
Recruitment and organization-building for activist campaigns___________
Non-violent civil disobedience______________
Organizing across race, gender and class_______________
YOUR IDEAS:
3) Would you be interested in coming to or planing local actions as a group?
Picket line support (i.e. for the Brockton nurses and other labor disputes
as they occur) __________
Planning actions to support organizing workers i.e. MSPCC workers in
Jamaica Plain or janitors in Baltimore________
Visit the Mexican consulate on behalf of the Kuk Dong factory workers in
Puebla, Mexico _________
Mobilization for the anti-IMF World Bank protests in September_________
YOUR IDEAS:
