Powerful Unity Shown for Workers and Immigrant Rights During May 1st Actions

May 052011
 
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May 5, 2011

Diverse Organizations and People Rallied Together for International Workers Day Events Throughout the U.S.

NYC May Day Rally, photo by Javier Soriano

New York, NY- After a year of attacks to erode public employee union and immigrant rights, unity was forged for the most profound May 1st marches and rallies seen in recent years. Calls for the right to organize for every worker for good jobs, a legalization program for all immigrants, and an end to the continued marginalization of African-American workers found common cause among a diverse array of workers.

Under the banner of “A Day Without Workers,” May Day United, a national network of over sixty leading worker and community-based organizations, encouraged people to take part in May 1st actions and avoid work, shopping, and school-related activities. On Sunday, over 50 events took place in cities and towns across the country. The coming together of a wide range of folks is strengthening the resolve of communities to continue fighting for the rights of all hard working people in the U.S.

Seattle May Day March, photo by John Fisher

“This May Day made it very clear that there is a profound alliance forming between traditional labor and immigrant rights organizations. We must continue to work together if we are to successfully advance the right of all workers documented or not,” said Cinthya Muñoz of Causa Justa :: Just Cause. “Never forget that an injury to one is an injury to all.”

From New York City to San Francisco, groups were united like never before. In Milwaukee, the national AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, and other labor leaders joined a rally organized by Voces de la Frontera which drew over 100,000 people in the streets. New York City saw two separately organized rallies converge into one and across the country workers showed strength through unity.

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Groups Nationwide Poised for Spirited May 1st Actions

Apr 282011
 
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April 28, 2011

May Day United Promoting Dynamic International Workers Day Events in Over 40 Communities Across the U.S.

Photo courtesy of the Farmworker Support Committee

New York, NY- Against a backdrop of increasing attacks on public employee union rights and immigrant workers, momentum is building for the largest and most energetic set of May 1st marches and rallies since the historic May Day of 2006. Workers and community members will be calling for quality jobs and the right to organize for every worker, a legalization program for all immigrants, and an end to the continued marginalization of African-American workers.

May Day United, a national network of over sixty leading worker and community-based organizations, is promoting over 40 events on May 1st in cities and towns across the country. Under the banner of “A Day Without Workers,” May Day United is encouraging people to take part in May 1st actions and avoid work, shopping, and school-related activities. Organizers believe that May 1st falling on a Sunday this year will help facilitate the participation of many working families. May Day United has issued a know-your-rights guide for May Day demonstrators and set up a legal hotline to assist workers.

“Around the world, working people are making change in the streets, ” said Joann Lo of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. “It’s our turn in the United States to fight back against the pain inflicted on working families by corporate elites and their allies in government.”

Energized by the resistance to anti-worker attacks emanating from Wisconsin and Arizona, unity is building around this year’s May Day as immigrant rights groups, community organizations, and unions are working together on rallies and marches from coast to coast. In NYC, the two major rally organizers held a joint press conference this past Tuesday announcing that they will be closing their rallies together. Additionally, in many places unions are participating for the first time in May Day events that are organized yearly by immigrant rights groups. Yesterday, a group of many of the largest United States trade unions released the following statement:

“America’s unions are proud to partner with May Day United and other grassroots organizations this May Day. We understand that the fight for workers’ rights and immigrant rights are cut of the same cloth. Politicians and their CEO backers are targeting all working people – including immigrants – to promote their corporate-backed political agenda and continue their power grab. This year on May Day, all working people are standing together to show the world that We Are One.”

May Day United is a national network of worker and community-based organizations promoting dynamic actions on May 1st, 2011 for jobs with dignity and true equality. Workers and groups in need of legal support can call May Day United’s hotline at 347-7MAYLGL. Find a May Day event near you at: http://maydayunited.org/actions/

Communities hosting May Day events include: Springdale, AR; Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Oxnard, CA; Sacramento, CA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; New Haven, CT; Washington, DC; Gainesville, FL; Miami, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA; Chelsea, MA; Holyoke, MA; Baltimore, MD; Lansing, MI; St. Paul, MN; North Kansas, MO; Pearl, MS; Asheville, NC; Durham, NC; Greensboro, NC; Lincoln, NE; Newark, NJ; Albuquerque, NM; Reno, NV; Buffalo, NY; New York, NY; Syracuse, NY; Portland, OR; Salem, OR; Austin, TX; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; McAllen, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; Richmond, VA; Mt. Vernon, WA; Seattle, WA; Madison, WI; Milwaukee, WI.

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What Kind of May Day Do We Need this Year?

Apr 192011
 
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By Daniel Gross

ZNetRe-posted from ZNet

Who would have thought?

The self-sacrifice of a street vendor in Tunisia sparked the rage of a nation including general strikes from independent unions which successfully ousted the Ben-Ali dictatorship.  The garment workers of Mahalla and their national day of action catalyzed the seeds of revolt in Egypt.  Then with millions in the street and Hosni Mubarak obstinately ensconced in his compound, mass industrial action from workers across sectors and across Egypt broke the stalemate and ended a 30-year reign of oppression.  Popular revolts have spread throughout the region.

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker launched extremist attacks on public worker union rights for the benefit of corporate elites, the example of the Egyptian and Tunisian achievements inspired workers to actions with a scope and spirit unseen for decades in the U.S. labor movement.  The persistent occupation of the Capitol and enthusiastic solidarity from far and wide proved that the sense of self-worth and fighting spirit of the American worker is alive and well.  A General Strike is being discussed by workers in states around the country, not as a historical relic, but as a practical, effective, and needed tool to deal with problems at work and in the political system.

Read the rest of this article here.

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Call to Action for “A DAY WITHOUT WORKERS” on May 1, 2011

Apr 132011
 
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Para esta llamada a acción en español, vaya a este link.

No Work, No Shopping on May Day: In the Streets Against the Attacks on Immigrants, Unions, and All Workers

Find a May 1st action in your community and mobilize your co-workers, friends, and family to join you.

Stop the War on WorkersImagine a world without workers.

You enter a grocery store to find the shelves lay bare with no one to pick, transport, or stock the food.  You wait helplessly in the hospital with no one to care for you.  School buses sit idle and classrooms empty.  Fires burn without end.

Without workers, there is nothing.

Despite their need for our labor, the large corporations and their politician friends are doing nothing but demonizing unions, immigrants, and all workers.  We’re losing our jobs, getting our hours cut, watching our opportunities diminish, and we are criminalized based on the country where we were born.  The racist show-me-your-papers law in Arizona is expanding around the country.  Governor Walker’s extremist attack on public union workers in Wisconsin has become the model for states nationwide.  The elites on Wall Street plunged the economy into crisis, decimating jobs and evicting families from their homes.  But instead of paying for their crimes, the corporate executives looted hundreds of billions of dollars from hard-working taxpayers to enhance their profits and their multimillion-dollar bonuses.

Finally, the resistance is here.

In Tunisia, the self-sacrifice of a street vendor sparked the rage of a nation.  The movement born of garment workers struggling for fair pay and dignity toppled a seemingly invulnerable dictator in Egypt.    With revolution spreading abroad, working families in Wisconsin have shown the nation that the sense of self-worth and fighting spirit of U.S. workers is alive and well.  And who can forget 2006 when millions of immigrant workers and their allies poured into the streets from coast to coast with great spirit and energy to make May Day real again in the United States after decades of slumber.

For May Day 2011, there is only one just response to the escalating attacks on working families.

Everyone in the streets, No Work and No Shopping, for “A Day Without Workers“!  We demand: the right to organize for all; legalization for all; good jobs for all; and an end to the attacks on public and private sector unions.

Find a May 1st action in your community and mobilize your co-workers, friends, and family to join you.
Share your local May 1 action if it is not already listed.

This call to action has been issued by May Day United, a national network of worker and community-based organizations promoting dynamic actions on May 1st, 2011 for jobs with dignity and true equality.

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SF Labor Council Endorses “A Day Without Workers”

Apr 132011
 
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The San Francisco Labor Council announced on April 12, 2011, that it will endorse a resolution regarding “A Day Without Workers” on International Workers’ Day, May 1, 2011. The original call for “A Day Without Workers” was released by May Day United.

Living Wage“The SF Labor Council’s endorsement is a very important development,” says Karl Kramer, a member of the Labor
Coucil for Latin American Advancement who submitted the resolution, and of SF Living Wage Coalition, an endorsing organization of May Day United. “We hope that others will follow in responding to the most recent attacks on workers by endorsing ‘A Day Without Workers’ and supporting those who choose not to go to work and spend May Day 2011 in the streets.”

Read the entire resolution here.

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New Multimedia Materials Available Now!

Apr 132011
 
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Poster en españolMay Day United has two videos now that you can use to help mobilize your community for May 1st – May Day 2011: Call to Action for “A Day Without Workers” in English and Spanish! Go to our videos page.

We also now have a poster in Spanish, in addition to the two posters in English.  Feel free to download them and add in your May 1st event info! Click here to download the posters!

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Call to Action! Primero de Mayo Unido–Llamada a Accion!

Feb 192011
 
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El español está abajo…

Created by Jonna Baldres

This is a call to join a network of worker centers, community organizations, and labor unions to increase national participation and power on May Day 2011 to win good jobs, legalization, and equality for every worker. As we all know, Congress and state governments across the nation have begun to wage a relentless attack against all workers this year and in years to come, especially immigrant workers and workers of color. At the same time, the remarkable energy, turnout, and spirit seen five years ago on May 1, 2006 has yet to be duplicated.

Stagnant and falling wages, lingering unemployment, and escalating attacks on immigrants workers and the right of all workers to organize call for an outpouring of energy and action in the United States on May 1, 2011. A powerful grassroots movement can win fair-paying jobs and equality while defending against the expansion of Arizona-style racial-profiling laws, rampant firings, workplace raids, deportations, and the downward economic spiral confronting U.S. working families. To that end, we invite you to support and participate in the May Day United network along the following principles of unity:

1) Supporting increased participation in May Day 2011 actions and supporting local groups in organizing May Day actions where they do not yet exist.

2) Encouraging workers to request May 1st off, or for workers interested in striking, providing organizing and legal support in advance of May Day as well as comprehensive solidarity in the event of retaliation.

3) Calling for:
a) Jobs for all and legalization for all
b) The right to organize and true equality for every worker

To embrace this call, please e-mail or call Jen Waller at 510-326-3652 or info @ maydayunited.org.

Primero de Mayo Unido–Llamada a Accion:

Created by Jonna Baldres

Esto es una invitacion para ajuntarse con una red de centros de trabajo, organizaciones de la comunidad, y sindicatos, para hacer mas grande el poder y la participacion nacional el primer dia de mayo 2011, para ganar buenos trabajos, legalizacion, e igualdad para cada trabajador. Como ya sabemos, el Congreso y los gobiernos de muchos estados han empezado una lucha implacable en contra de todos los trabajadores, espcialmente en contra de los trabajadores inmigrantes y trabajadores de color. Al mismo tiempo, la energia, espiritu y participacion notable de cinco años pasado en el primero de mayo, 2006, todavia no ha sido recreado.

Sueldos caen y se estancan, el desemempleo aumenta, y los ataques en contra de trabajadores inmigrantes y en contra del derecho de todos los trabajadores a organizarse estan intensificando. Entonces, es tiempo de organizar para una lluvia de energia y accion en los Estados Unidos para el primero de mayo, 2011!  Solo un movimiento poderoso del base puede ganar trabajos justos e igualdad, mientras luchando en contra de las leyes raciales (del estilo de Arizona), las despedidas galopantes, las redadas del ICE, las deportaciones, y la crisis economica que enfrenta a las familias trabajadoras en los Estados Unidos. Entonces les invitamos a apoyar y participar en la red Primero de Mayo Unido, con las siguentes principios de unidad:

1) Apoyamos mas participacion en las acciones del primero de mayo 2011, y apoyamos a grupos locales en organizar acciones donde todavia no existen.
2) Fomentamos a todos los trabajadores a pedir una dia libre de trabajo para el primero de mayo, y para los que tienen ganas de organizar una huelga, ayudaremos con organizacion y apoyo legal, antes del primero de mayo, y tambien con una solidaridad integral en el evento de represalias.
3) Llamamos por

a)Trabajo y legalizacion para todos, y

b)El derecho de organizar e igualdad verdadera para cada trabajador.

Para ajuntarse con este llamada, por favor llame or mande un correo electronico a
Jen Waller, info @ maydayunited.org, 510-326-3652.

This Call to Action is also also available in these other languages:

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