[877] in peace2
conferences!!!!!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Boston Jobs WIth Justice)
Tue Jul 17 13:43:17 2001
Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20010717131606.00b0e1c0@pop.mindspring.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 13:41:43 -0400
To: solidarity_summer2001@hotmail.com, janemartin@post.harvard.edu
From: Boston Jobs WIth Justice <bostonjwj@mindspring.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
mark your calenders!!!!
there are two incredible national conferences for student labor activists
coming up!
1) United Students Against Sweatshops Conference- Chicago, August 2-5
* meet students activists from all over the country * learn from different
strategic campaigns * build the national anti-sweatshop movement * be part
of new plans to take on local labor solidarity campaigns and prison reform
* attend skills-building workshops for students *
2) Jobs with Justice Student-Labor Pre-conference - Cleveland, September 6-9
* be part of a unique gathering reflecting the growing coalition of
community organizers, rank-and-file union members, academics, labor
leaders, artists, and students * meet the most progressive local unions who
want to work with students * build the national student-labor coalition *
attend countless workshops and trainings given by experienced organizers *
We are planning to drive vans to both conferences from Boston and we are
looking into coordinated funding to cover other costs! If you are at all
interested in coming to either contact me at (617) 524-8778 or reply to
this e-mail. More info on both is below.
Jane
_________________________________________________________________
******************************************************
JOBS WITH JUSTICE ANNUAL MEETING
******************************************************
### The deadline for early registration is this Friday, July 20th. ###
Save $30 by registering now!
You can register on-line at
<http://www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01reg.htm>www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01reg.<http://www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01reg.htm>htm
The annual meeting is September 6-9, in Cleveland, Ohio. Join hundreds of
labor, community, religious and student activists from around the country
working to build powerful coalitions for workers' rights and economic
justice. Highlights will include plenaries on Right to Organize, Organizing
in the Global Economy and Student Labor Organizing, and workshops on
Workers' Right Boards, Economics Education, Immigrant Rights,
Coalition-Building, Mobilization, Sweatshops, Living Wage Campaigns and
much more! Exciting pre-conferences will take place Friday including ones
on Religion-Labor, Student-Labor, Prison Privatization and Pride at Work!
Plus an ACTION will be held with local workers! Call MA JwJ today for more
info, (617) 524-8778.
For more information about the Annual Meeting, visit
<http://www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01.htm>www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01.<http://www.jwj.org/annmtg_files/am01.htm>htm
>There are 30 amazing workshops in the works for this year's Annual
>Meeting, a list is below!
>
>Annual Meeting Workshops
>
> Track A: Workplace Organizing
> * National Campaign: Organizing at Wal-Mart.
> * National Campaign: (to be determined)
> * Engaging Religious Allies in the Fight for Workers Rights
> * Union Organizing 101: How and why workers organize to increase power.
> * Right To Organize: Learning from JwJ case studies about strategies
> to support workers right to organize.
> * Organizing Immigrant Workers.
> * Day Labor/Contingent Workers.
> * Winning Strikes! How coalitions can support bargaining fights.
> Track B: Student Organizing
> * Building reciprocal coalitions between students and unions.
> * Fighting for Campus Workers Rights.
> * Student organizing skills workshop 1: How to build a diverse campus
> coalition.
> * Student organizing skills workshop 2: How to organize a winning
> campaign (GROW strategy session)
> Track C: Global Justice
> * Globalization issues 1: Understanding Free Trade, the World
> Bank/IMF, and their local impacts.
> * Globalization issues 2: WTO, GATS, privatization, and their local
> impacts.
> * Global Justice International: Lessons from international allies.
> * Global Justice Local: Using global justice to build stronger, more
> diverse JwJ.
> Track D: Social and Economic Justice
> * Living Wage 101: How to get ordinances passed.
> * Living Wage 202: How to enforce ordinances, expand it to the county
> level, etc.
> * Health Care Justice: Local efforts to win healthcare for all,
> lessons from Canada.
> * Fighting Sweatshops
> * Fighting Welfare Reform Reauthorization
> * Fighting Prison Privatization
> * Movement History
> Track E: Organization Building and Activism
> * Fundraising (still need to choose focus)
> * Mobilization
> * Volunteer and Leadership Development
> * Conducting a Workers Rights Board hearing
> * Civil Disobedience Training
> * Eliminating racism in the workplace
> * Confronting gender discrimination in the workplace: The experience
> of Hard-Hatted Women.
>Register at <http://www.jwj.org>www.jwj.org
______________________________________________________________
People get ready ...
Building a Movement for Worker & Student Power
August 2-5 . Loyola University . Chicago, Illinois
... the national gathering of United Students Against Sweatshops
REGISTER NOW! at www.peoplegetready.org
(or call 202.NO.SWEAT)
PEOPLE GET READY...what are we saying here?
We're saying we've got a movement to build.
We're saying we've got a lot of work to do.
We're saying we're ready.
and, we're saying THEY better get ready....
'cause HERE WE COME...join hundreds of students, youth, workers, and other
allies this summer in strengthening the movement for economic justice and
worker rights!
The gathering in Chicago is an opportunity to measure our victories and
assess our defeats, to build friendships with other activists, organizers,
and allies across the country, to learn from each other's experiences, to be
inspired by each other's stories, to evaluate our strategies and construct
new ones for the coming year.
It's an opportunity to BUILD OUR POWER.
If you want to be a part of this opportunity, you've gotta get to Chicago
from August 2-5. Here's the deal....
*** Represent! ***
Start organizing a large, diverse delegation from your campus and community
NOW. One measure of the movement's success in the past year will be in
bringing together hundreds of young people from all over the country, from
many different experiences and backgrounds, united in the desire to share
skills, build power and effect positive change on our campuses, in our
communities and throughout the world. Organizing to bring a large,
energetic, diverse delegation to Chicago will be an amazing tool toward
building strong multiracial organizations and winning campaigns in the next
year.
And as much as we want you to mobilize lots of folks to get to the USAS
gathering, it's important that we think carefully about *who* will be there.
While we don't have any official requirements about the racial, gender,
sexuality, and class make-up of your delegation, we urge you to keep the
following questions in mind when building your conference delegation. They
are central to how we build this movement.
*What are the diversity goals for my delegation?
*How does our recruitment help build the campus or community
organization/coalition by involving new people and new organizations?
*Do we have a balance of up & coming young leaders with old leadership?
*Do we have a diverse delegation with respect to race and gender?
*Do we have a diverse delegation with respect to class and sexual
orientation?
*Who will help us do this recruitment?
If we have your contact information, someone will be calling you in the next
week or so to talk about recruitment and fundraising for the conference. If
you don't think we've got your correct info, and you'd like to help organize
folks on your campus or in your community to get to the conference, give us
a call at 202 NO SWEAT.
*** Where am I going and how do I get there? ***
Loyola University - Chicago is a beautiful campus right on the shore of Lake
Michigan (think beach parties) and just a few "El" line stops away from the
heart of downtown Chicago. It's a school steeped in the social justice
values of the Jesuits (be sure to check out Loyola's mural honoring priests
killed while struggling for freedom in El Salvador in the 1980s) in a
neighborhood with a history of progressive community organizing.
Loyola is easily accessible by the El from both of Chicago's airports (fares
are currently running $200-300 from most major U.S. cities, and are cheaper
from some of the discount airlines) and its bus and train stations, and an
easy drive from the interstate highways for those driving to Chicago. If
you're looking to hitch a ride to Chicago or have space in a car to offer,
post a message to the Ride Board.
*** Can I afford it? ***
It costs USAS a lot more to put on a national gathering than what we bring
in from registration and housing fees. Nevertheless, we're working to keep
make this gathering accessible to anyone who wants to attend, regardless of
financial constraints. With that in mind, conference fees are $15 for
students or low-income folks who register before July 6, $25 if you register
after that date. Fees for folks who've got a little more cash are $40 before
July 6; $60 after that date.
Housing costs are separate. We are securing some free floor space in homes,
churches, schools, and union halls for folks who want to sleep for free. To
get a dorm room on campus, it's $70 for the entire weekend for students and
low-income participants, $120 for our friends with mo' money. After July 6,
those costs go up to $80 and $150. Checks can be made out to United
Students Against Sweatshops and sent to 1015 18th Street NW, Suite 200/
Washington, DC 20036.
We will also be offering limited numbers of scholarships to help with
conference fees and travel costs. Priority will be given to delegations that
have strong representation of people of color, women, working-class
students, and LGBTQ folks. You can apply for a scholarship online, at
www.peoplegetready.org. Also check out the attached document to this message
for tips on fundraising locally, and contact us (202 NO SWEAT) if you'd like
advice or support in that endeavor.
*** What are we going to be doing? ***
Our agenda is still in development, but here are leads on some of the great
stuff coming together:
*Opportunities--both formal & informal--for students working on various
campaigns (sweatshops, living wage, prisons, solidarity organizing, etc) or
working within various regions to network & build organizing plans together
*Panels on building worker & student power--everything from celebrating our
victories to building a multi-racial movement to winning strategies and many
more! Among our invited guests to speak...
- Naomi Klein, author of 'No Logo'
- Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO
- Huberto Juarez, professor of economics from the Autonomous University of
Puebla
- Bill Fletcher, assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO and co-chair of
the Black Radical Congress
- Sarita Gupta, director of Chicago Jobs with Justice
- Julia Beatty, vice-president of the United States Student Association
*Educational Workshops in the following tracks...
- Sweatshops, the garment industry and international solidarity
- Supporting worker rights on campus and in our communities
- Building diverse organizations and multiracial coalitions (this workshop
track will be in addition to caucuses of people of color, women, and working
class and queer folks and the allies of all of these constituencies)
- Bread and butter organizing skills - building coalitions, developing a
campaign strategy, recruiting new members, organizing demonstrations and
direct action
- Art in the movement and examining our organizing culture
- And a potpourri of different workshops about different campaigns that our
allies lead but USAS folks are actively working on (including a focus on the
movement against private prisons) and, of course, more general workshops on
globalization and the fights against the big nasty economic institutions of
our day (WTO, IMF, World Bank, FTAA, all the uglies...)
*Cultural Events ranging from an open mike night to live music and beach
parties to movement film showings, labor history tours, and art shows...in
short, BIG FUN for everyone...
Aside from all these schedules events, the experience of just being with
youth from all over the country and learning from the work of others, you're
going to encounter all sorts of interesting discussions that are going to
challenge your perspectives and improve your organizing skills. We're going
to celebrate what we've accomplished and confront the tough issues that we
still face.
Students will be talking about their campaigns on everything from cross-
border organizing, to supporting campus food service workers and winning
living wage campaigns, to building multi-issue coalitions focused on
campaigning on many fronts to build power in their schools and communities.
We'll be hearing from folks that we've been working with, from workers on
our campuses to those from the Kukdong struggle for Mexico's first
independent maquiladora union. And get ready, because there's going to be
time set aside for you to get in front of the whole crew and talk about your
victories.
Stay tuned, because when we get some more of the specifics down ... mmm,
things are going to keep getting more enticing.
*** Is this where we figure out the entire direction of the movement? ***
Don't put so much pressure on yourself. We reflect and improve upon the
successes and weaknesses of our organizing throughout the year. New
campaigns are developed, new strategies are crafted all of the time. Most
of what we'll take home to help bring our organizing to another level will
happen because of the connections we make, not the votes we take.
But for those groups who have officially affiliated with USAS by adopting
our Principles of Unity, we will have some time set aside to attempt to
develop the outlines of a collective vision, goals, and organizing plan for
what we'll aim to accomplish together in the next year. Each affiliated
group will have four votes in that Organizing Meeting, and is actively
encouraged to submit resolutions and ideas leading toward that end
beforehand. We will also create the space for folks to begin this discussion
in the weeks leading up to the conference, and attempt to create some
cohesion out of those talks into a working document for the meeting. More
details about that process will
be available soon over the USAS list and on peoplegetready.org. If you're
unsure about whether your group has officially affiliated to USAS, contact
us at 202 NO SWEAT.
And for folks who don't think an organizing meeting sounds like a lot of
fun, don't worry. We're going to keep the workshops and exhibits and labor
history tours going full speed in the meantime.
*** So this is the thing to be at if I want to organize against corporate
power and for worker rights and economic justice on my campus next year? ***
We think so. You're definitely going to learn a lot, you're definitely going
to meet a lot of folks doing the same kinds of work you are and are going to
be key allies as we continue organizing into next year. You're going to meet
lots of others running campaigns you maybe haven't even though about yet.
You're going to be energized, you're going to be inspired. No doubt.
But we've got lots of friends in this movement who are doing good work we
think students should not only support but get involved with, too. They've
got conferences of their own that will bring together different folks from
an even more diverse array of backgrounds, focusing on many related issues
that are key to building a real movement for fairness, justice, and
equality. We think that we're all bringing different pieces to the puzzle,
and are participating in work that collectively builds a stronger movement.
Here's a couple we want to highlight.
United States Student Association National Congress
July 22-29 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
USSA is the country's oldest and largest national student organization,
representing millions of students. Founded in 1947, USSA is the recognized
voice for students on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in the
Department of Education. USSA believes education is a right and works on
building grassroots power among students to win concrete victories that
expand access to education at the federal, state and campus level. They have
successfully helped to build strong multi-racial, multi-issue coalitions of
students throughout the country, and since the issues of working people are
intricately tied to who gets a higher education in our country, they have
been key partners in the struggle for worker rights.
Jobs with Justice Annual Meeting
September 6-9 in Cleveland, Ohio
Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers' rights that builds
coalitions of labor, community, religious and constituency organizations to
fight for workers' rights and economic justice. Their Student Labor Action
Project works with USAS, USSA, and the Prison Moratorium Project to organize
the April 4th National Student Labor Day of Acton and has hosted a
successful half-day student-labor pre-conference at each of the past two
Annual Meetings.
*** As we get closer ... ***
Much more is going to materialize. We'll post updates about the events
happening, workshops developing, and much more to a myriad of listservs, and
the conference website at www.peoplegetready.org. If you've got any
questions, email us at info@peoplegetready.org or call the USAS office at
202.NO.SWEAT [202-667-9328].
Until we see you in Chicago ... strength, solidarity, and keep in touch.
--
United Students Against Sweatshops
1015 18th Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
www.usasnet.org
202 NO SWEAT (202.667.9328)
fax/202 822 1199
