Workers Resistance

Author: Fight Back

  • Activists demand charges in murder of Corey Stingley

    Milwaukee, WI – 35 people rallied outside the office of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, April 17, to protest his refusal to prosecute the killers of 16-year-old Corey Stingley. In 2012, the Black high school student was strangled to death by three white adult men after being accused of shoplifting.

    Led by the Stingley family, activists have been protesting D.A. John Chisholm all winter, after he announced his decision not to prosecute any of the men for killing Corey Stingley.

    “I don’t care if it’s zero degrees out. I don’t care about my feet, I will lose every toe to continue to fight if I have to!” said community activist Melissa Verdin.

    Other speakers compared Chisholm’s refusal to prosecute the murderers to the initial refusal to arrest and prosecute George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. Like Zimmerman, the three men who were interviewed in a John Doe investigation had contradictions arise in their interviews, which are refuted by video evidence of the attack. A John Doe investigation is a legal proceeding used to determine if a crime has been committed.

    A new documentary film short recently published by Vice News includes both the security camera footage and audio of the John Doe investigation, which contradict each other. Despite these revelations, D.A. Chisholm has refused to bring any charges or further investigation. So far the U.S. Department of Justice has also turned down requests to investigate the murder.

    Activists believe popular pressure could force officials to bring the vigilantes to trial, following the example of the popular support for Trayvon Martin which forced charges against Zimmerman.

    In the documentary one man can be seen putting Stingley in a head-lock. “This documentary opened my eyes up in a whole new way to the depravity of this world … there are no laws on the books to bring someone to justice for vigilantism and hold them accountable,” said Craig Stingley, Corey’s father.

    Click here to view the Vice News video: Racial Injustice in Milwaukee: Crime and Punishment

  • UPS, FedEx owned by most of the same monopoly banks

    Jacksonville, FL – Despite ‘competing’ as the world’s two largest parcel delivery and shipping companies, UPS and FedEx are owned by many of the same banks. According to NASDAQ’s ownership summary of both companies, 12 of the top 20 owners of UPS and FedEx are the same banks, investment groups and financial institutions.

    Both multi-billion dollar corporations are under ‘institutional ownership’, which means that a majority of their shares are owned by financial institutions, banks and other large monopoly corporations. According to NASDAQ’s ownership summary of UPS on April 11, nearly 71% of UPS shares are owned by institutions. FedEx, a smaller company than UPS, actually had greater institutional ownership, with 83.94% of the company’s shares owned by institutions, according to NASDAQ.

    However, most of the largest institutional owners of both UPS and FedEx have substantial interests in both companies. For instance, Vanguard Group Inc., a Pennsylvania-based investment bank that manages nearly $2 trillion in assets, is the single-largest owner of UPS and the third largest owner of FedEx. Vanguard Group is a massive financial institution that boasts the largest ownership in many other large, well-known corporations including Apple, Exxon Mobil and Microsoft.

    Primecap Management Company, based in Pasadena, California, is the largest owner of FedEx, holding nearly 19 million shares of the shipping company, according to NASDAQ. However, Primecap is also the 16th largest owner of UPS stock, holding more than 6.3 million shares, also according to NASDAQ.

    In all, 60% of the top 20 owners of both UPS and FedEx are the same banks, investment groups and financial institutions.

    Institutional ownership is incredibly common among the largest 500 publicly traded companies.

    Despite this fact, companies like UPS stress to workers the need to “compete” against rival workers in their industry, like those at FedEx. UPS’s collective bargaining agreement includes an entire article on competition that states: “The Union recognizes that the Employer is in direct competition with…other firms engaging in the distribution of express letter, parcel express, parcel delivery, and freight, both air and surface.”

    The company leverages this poison pill of competition to justify subcontracting union work and undermining union standards. It creates an adversarial relationship between workers of UPS and FedEx, when in reality the owners at the top are united in extracting the most profit possible from workers at both companies. When the owners of UPS and FedEx are one in the same, ‘competition’ means which management team can exploit their workers the most and extract the most profit for the banks that own the whole industry.

    A prominent argument used by UPS claims that workers must accept concessionary contracts to remain ‘competitive.’ They argue that employing tried-and-true militant tactics, like striking as the Teamsters did successfully in 1997, will result in FedEx stealing UPS’s customers. Historically, the union movement addressed this by organizing entire industries, instead of single worksites or employers. This meant one industry, one union, and at times – one contract. At its best, this method of organizing and bargaining takes wages out of competition and sets industry-wide standards to prevent subcontracting and a race to the bottom through ‘competition.’ Tactically, if the 1% owners of both brands are united, then to combat them and win, workers across the entire industry must also unite.

    The attempts of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to organize FedEx have been foiled by U.S. labor law, which misclassifies workers and stifles their ability to unionize. FedEx Ground drivers are misclassified as independent contractors and are legally barred from union representation, even though in practice, they are effectively workers directly employed by the company. FedEx Express drivers are also misclassified under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), as opposed to the National Labor Relations Act. The company claims their employees are ‘airline’ workers, and thus would need to unionize nationally all at once. The RLA also places many more restrictions on workers’ rights, including the ability to strike. It also forces the workers into binding arbitration, which often serve the interest of the boss instead of the workers.

    The banks and financial institutions that own both UPS and FedEx are united in their push for lower wages, part-time poverty jobs, fewer benefits and weaker contracts. To effectively fight their race to the bottom, union workers at UPS must organize FedEx workers, regardless of the legal fictions created by politicians in Washington.

    Dave Schneider and Dustin Ponder are both rank-and-file Teamsters and members of Part-Time Power at UPS, which is a national group for UPS part-timers.

  • Republicans blocking Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) in House

    Washington, DC – Legislation to restore unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed is being blocked by House Republicans. The Senate passed a bill to reinstate jobless benefits April 7, but passage in the House is required to bring back extended unemployment insurance.

    The Democratic leadership did not insist on including a benefit extension in last December’s budget compromise, giving Republicans the power to stop legislation to restore Extended Unemployment Compensation.

    About 3 million workers have been denied jobless benefits since the program was allowed to expire late last December.

    House Democrats are circulating a discharge petition, which if signed by a majority of House members, would force an immediate vote on the measure. To date, the discharge petition has been signed by 193 House members. The House of Representatives has 233 Republicans and 199 Democrats.

  • University of South Florida students demand “Hands off Ukraine”

    Tampa, FL – Tampa Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from the community protested U.S. interference in Ukraine at Senator Marco Rubio’s office, April 16. Marco Rubio supports efforts in the U.S. Senate to increase U.S. intervention and spend billions of taxpayer dollars in Ukraine. Students made three demands at Rubio’s office on the University of South Florida campus: No more U.S. intervention in Ukraine or Crimea; Stop U.S. aid to the illegitimate Ukrainian regime; and Oppose U.S. sanctions against Russia.

    Students gave fiery speeches denouncing Rubio’s support for U.S. intervention. Dani Leppo of Tampa SDS said, “For far too long, the imperialist aggression of the U.S. has caused bloodshed throughout the world. From Colombia to Venezuela, Iraq to Afghanistan, resources and lives are stolen in the name of spreading so-called ‘democracy.’ We must respect the people of Ukraine and Crimea.”

    When they finished speaking, the protesters marched into Rubio’s office to present their demands. The office was closed off and locked however, so protesters left a letter to Rubio listing their demands.

    SDS pointed out that the U.S. spent trillions on wars and foreign interventions while people suffered at home. Tampa SDS member Bridget White noted, “It’s ridiculous that the U.S. is backing real life fascists in the Ukraine. Can’t they be using this money to lower tuition instead?”

    SDS vows to continue the struggle against imperialism, fascism and Nazism wherever it appears.

  • Minnesota SDS protest confronts war criminal Condoleezza Rice

    Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of students and community members gathered outside of Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota (U of M), on the evening of April 17, to protest an appearance by Bush White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Rice was speaking as an invited guest of the University’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

    The crowd of over 250 protesters, led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), heard speakers including professors David Pellow and August Nimtz, AFSCME 3800 President Cherenne Horazuk, Welfare Rights Committee member Deb Howze, Anti-War Committee member Sabri Wazwaz and representatives from other student groups such as Whose Diversity and Students for Justice in Palestine.

    Speakers condemned Rice as a war criminal whose misconduct during the Bush administration included direct responsibility for the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ This torture was systematically implemented by the CIA and used at Black Sites around the world as well as prisons like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

    Protesters gathered in front of Northrop exercised their rights to ‘free speech’ by defying police orders banning the use of amplified sound.

    In the weeks before Rice’s appearance, SDS worked with several professors on a University Senate resolution, modeled after a similar one passed at Rutgers University, condemning the visit of Rice. Though the resolution failed, over 200 professors signed a petition opposing her visit, her receiving of $150,000 to speak, and condemning her role in the Bush administration.

    Speaking to the rally, Stephanie Taylor of SDS stated, “Condoleezza is advocating for the erasure of history and the covering up of crimes committed.” Sociology Professor David Pellow spoke about how Rice’s ‘humanitarian’ work was done in places like Iraq with F-16 jets. He reminded the crowd that Rice was a board member for the Chevron Corporation which has been responsible for a long list of environmental disasters around the world. For her efforts, Rice had an oil tanker named after her. The name of the tanker was changed in the run up to the war on Iraq. Speaker Maggie Kilgo pointed out, “The illegal invasion of Iraq was predicated on the lie that Iraq had WMDs to disguise the fact that a great economic incentives provided a lucrative bounty to the American invaders and the private corporations that they brought with them.”

    In addition the record of illegal wars, occupation and systematic torture under the leadership of Rice and the Bush administration, SDS and other protesters highlighted that Rice, who was to speak about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was bad choice to speak on the subject. In his open letter to Condoleezza Rice, U of M Humphrey School Roy Wilkins Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice Samuel Meyers, Jr. stated, “the argument is that you are black and a woman and even though you have expressed opposing views long held by the mainstream supporters of equal opportunity and fairness, and you are not an academic expert on the topic, your visit should be supported because, well, you are black and a woman!”

    Professor August Nimtz stated, “Hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of others” could have spoken to the “narrative about how a particular black family coped with, and refused to be broken by, that system” of white supremacy in the Jim Crow south. Nimtz himself grew up in the Jim Crow south in New Orleans and highlighted the fact that Rice was “missing in action” while some “90% of her cohorts made the decisive contributions for the victory, the Children’s Crusade, when the masses took to the streets.” Nimtz also highlighted her absence from struggles against apartheid in South Africa.

    Deb Howze of the Welfare Rights Committee told of the hypocrisy of Rice speaking on behalf of Civil Rights when Rice oversaw wars abroad that took billions of dollars to murder Iraqi’s including women and children while the women and children of the U.S. suffered and starved at home.

    After speaking in front of the auditorium, hundreds of protesters marched around the building and across campus. They returned to the side entry of Northrop where guests entered and were expected to exit from. Inside, during Rice’s speech several members of the audience wore orange jump suits and black hoods to protest her contributions of torture and crimes against humanity.

    Upon exiting the speech from Rice, hundreds of people were confronted by the protesters waiting outside the doors. Exiting guests had to walk through a canyon of loud protesters chanting slogans like “This is what democracy looks like, Rice is what hypocrisy looks like!”

    The protest led by SDS made it clear to Rice and the University of Minnesota that “War criminals are not welcome on our campus.”

     

  • Florida Sen. Negron blocking tuition equality, SDS calls emergency protests

    Tallahassee, FL – On April 14, Senator Joe Negron released a statement announcing he is blocking SB 1400. SB 1400 is a bill in the Florida legislature to provide in-state tuition for undocumented students who attend high school in Florida. Negron is blocking the Appropriations Committee from hearing the bill before the end of legislative session. The Appropriations Committee is the third and final committee that SB 1400 needs to pass through before a full Senate vote. However, a motion can still be made within the Senate to call a vote of the bill on the floor.

    The bill has bipartisan support and great momentum behind it. The bill passed through the Florida House of Representatives as HB 851, with a vote of 81-33. Then SB 1400 passed through both the Education and Judiciary committees with votes of 5-4 and 7-2 respectively. Governor Rick Scott supports tuition equity and is prepared to sign the bill into law. The problem now is Negron.

    Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is leading a campaign, with support on every campus, to demand in-state tuition for undocumented Florida students. SDS is spearheading the national Education for All campaign, and supports the Legalization for All movement to improve the lives of Dreamers and their parents and families.

    Students for a Democratic Society is organizing a call-in April 18 to Senator Jack Latvala. Please call Senator Latvala at 727-793-2797, and demand that he opts to save Senate Bill 1400 that will grant access to higher education for thousands of Florida undocumented students.

    Students will also be meeting with Senator Don Gaetz, president of the senate, at the capitol on April 21 to dissuade him from attempts to block moving the bill to the Senate floor.

     

  • Clarksville SDS chapter receives Outstanding Student Organization Award

    Clarksville, TN – On April 16 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Austin Peay State University was awarded recognition from the university for their efforts. They received the award at a ceremony that was attended by hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members. SDS President Julia Casteel said, “We are all very proud tonight to be recognized for the work we do. SDS is a leading force fighting racism, sexism and oppression of all kinds both here on our campus and around the country and we plan to continue to struggle and fight for a better world.

  • Anti-war activist proudly pleads guilty to ‘disturbing’ U.S. war criminal General Petraeus

    Grand Rapids, MI – Anti-war activist Deb Van Poolen appeared in the 61st District Court here, April 15, with a group of supporters. Van Poolen pled guilty to the charge of creating a disturbance on Jan. 31 at the DeVos Place Convention Center.

    With great interest, Judge Kim Schaefer asked the defendant if she had created a disturbance that day. Van Poolen proudly said, “Yes, I stood up and spoke in front of several hundred people, and I said, ‘General David Petraeus you are a war criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children. I am a graduate of Calvin College and a follower of Jesus Christ and I am here to speak out.’”

    Judge Schaefer interrupted and asked what the effect was. Van Poolen responded, “Petraeus stopped speaking and then two men brought me outside.”

    Next Van Poolen’s lawyer David LeGrande spoke in her defense, saying, “It was an intentional act of civil disobedience. The tradition sees it as appropriate to break laws and deal with the consequences…to right injustice.” Defense attorney LeGrande continued, “She performed a public service by challenging militarism and the often unchallenged acts of aggression by the U.S. She is a full-time ideologue and I mean that in the best sense of the word. She has the support of local activists in court today and the support of communities in other parts of our country and the world.”

    Judge Schaefer, appreciating this exceptional plea in her court. asked if Van Poolen had any final comments.

    Van Poolen responded, “I was practicing free speech in a non-violent way. I did so with the sincere belief that, to call attention to the outrageous and immoral acts of U.S. leaders, civil disobedience is required. I hope my actions followed in the footsteps of other great and inspiring leaders.”

    Van Poolen is required to pay $160 in restitution as requested by the prosecution and about $300 in court costs and fees for a total near $460. She plans to enter a work program with other low-income women doing physical labor to pay off their debts to the justice system. Anti-war activists in Grand Rapids are also raising funds in solidarity with her bold action.

     

  • Occupy Wall Street reunion in south Florida calls for solidarity

    Miami, FL – More than 30 south Florida activists gathered April 13 at the Margaret Pace Park. Occupy Miami, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, organized a reunion for Occupiers and invited other local organizers to take part in discussions. The Occupy movement inspired many to join the fight for justice and many Miami Occupiers continue to organize.

    Members of Broward and Miami-Dade Green Party, People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America-Miami, Reclaim Your Power and Equality and Amnesty International participated in discussions summing up the past couple of years. Local activists are looking forward too, with upcoming plans to celebrate May Day – International Workers’ Day.

    Palestine solidarity organizers are planning a commemoration of Al-Nakba, “the catastrophe,” when millions of Palestinians were violently forced to leave their homes in historic Palestine on May 15, 1948. Arab-American women’s leader Rasmea Odeh will be a focus of the May 15 event. Odeh is the target of political repression and is going to court in Detroit on June 10. A nationwide solidarity campaign at www.StopFBI.net is building up to support Odeh.

    The Occupy Wall Street movement experienced repression at the hands of the U.S. government and the Occupy Miami reunion called for people to stand in solidarity with activists like Rasmea Odeh who are being targeted.

    Pamela Maldonado, lead organizer with POWIR said, “We as activists experience repression, but we also practice solidarity that protects our movements. When we come together to fight we have a bigger impact. Together we are stronger.”

    People spoke of ways to support each other’s work and strengthen the fight for justice. The spirited collaboration of the community helps to solidify the movement going forward.

     

  • More than 2000 attend Labor Notes Conference

    Chicago, IL – Over 2000 people attended the 2014 Labor Notes conference here, April 4-6, bringing together some of the best fighters in the labor movement for 140 crowded workshops of people discussing how to rebuild labor in the U.S. and abroad, and a militant protest at Staples on behalf of postal workers fighting privatization.

    Mark Dimonstein, the newly-elected president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), gave a rousing speech in defense of postal workers and public sector unions.

    “We’re living in a moment when six members of the Walmart family have the accumulated wealth of 40% of this country,” he said, detailing how the super-rich avoid paying taxes and, after successfully beating down private sector unions, have now “unleashed their fury on public sector unions.” Dimonstein added, “When they don’t pay who does? We do. And when they still don’t have the money they take it out of the public sector.”

    Asked to say something about the victory of his reform slate in the APWU, Dimonstein explained, “We simply told our members the truth as we understood it, we went to the rank and file around this country, we never offered a path of guaranteed or easy victories, the only thing we guaranteed is if we were elected we would wage an unrelenting fight alongside the membership to save the public postal service, the fight to rebuild our union contracts, the fight to save our union, and we promised to enter the battlefield without white flags or surrendering, that was our promise. We asked the members to support us if they want a union the is willing to fight back.”

    Conference attendee Charles Jordan, of Teamsters Local 804 in New York City, was recently on the front lines of a battle with UPS in his local. Teamsters of Local 804 were fighting the unjust firing of their union steward, who has 24 years working for UPS. In response to management walking him off the job, 250 drivers held an emergency protest outside their facility. UPS started replacing some of the 250 and said they were going to fire all of them. A campaign to save their jobs resulted in a victory where all 250 are back at work now.

    Jordan stated, “The support for Local 804 was great. It was understood that the 804 fight was not only to primarily get our drivers reinstated, but also to protect the act of solidarity shown that fateful day when the drivers remembered, ‘an injury to one, is an injury to all,’ and they stood up for their brother unjustly fired.”

    Fight Back! hosted a party Saturday evening that featured class struggle unionists, including the president of an AFSCME local in Minnesota; a labor leader from El Salvador, where the people just elected a pro-worker government; a leader of the Chicago Teachers Union, a worker from Teamsters 804 who was one of the 250 UPS workers that recently went on strike, and many more.

    One of the teachers in attendance at the Fight Back! party asked the crowd, “Where has unions following the rules gotten us? The game is rigged. Unions are going to have to start breaking the rules and looking at civil disobedience.”

    Blake Branum, a rank-and-file Teamster from Local 344 in Milwaukee, said, “I was astounded not only by how much knowledge I had taken in but by the diverse amount of people who are proud and unwilling to compromise what they believe in their heart.”

    Cherrene Horazuk, president of AFSCME 3800, told the party attendees, “We know that working people win when we stand up and fight back, when we fight the boss for a better workplace, when we use the most powerful tools in our toolbox – the strike and solidarity – and when we organize as a class to make this a better place for all working people.”