May 11 — Close to 500 people have been arrested here since the rebellion that began on April 25 after the killing of Freddie Grey, yet another young Black man who has died at the hands of the police. Some 33 of those arrested remain in jail. Some were brutally beaten and pepper-sprayed by police even as television cameras caught the action. Those still being held are in central booking or at a nearby juvenile facility, without due process. They were denied their right to see a court commissioner within the 24-hour period previously required. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan provided an excuse for this delay by proclaiming a “state of emergency,” which also authorized deployment of the National Guard. The governor has never even considered declaring a state of emergency over Baltimore’s extreme poverty, unemployment and decaying schools and homes in the Black community. These unbearable conditions are what underlie the struggle in a major city that has been stripped of its once plentiful industrial jobs. Those arrested included Baltimore youth, journalists, medics and legal observers. Allen Bullock’s parents urged him to turn himself in after he was pictured in a news media photo allegedly breaking a police cruiser’s windows. […]
Tag: News
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Boston school bus drivers vote in fired union leaders
Team Solidarity activists win Local 8751 election by landslide.WW photo: Team Solidarity Boston — In a stunning victory, the militant, fighting rank and file of the Boston school bus drivers’ union, United Steelworkers Local 8751, voted in the full slate of Team Solidarity candidates, led by four illegally fired leaders, on the union’s Executive Board. The April 30 election was the largest voter turnout in the history of the local and resulted in an unprecedented landslide vote by more than 3 to 1 for the Team Solidarity ticket. The membership sent a clear message to Veolia/Transdev, the union-busting school bus management company, as well as to Boston Public Schools and Mayor Marty Walsh, that they will fight and win a just contract and the rehiring of their leaders. They will also unite with the communities they serve to struggle for Equal Quality Education. The new executive board-elect of the 850-strong union, whose members are largely Haitian, Cape Verdean and African-American, includes President Andre Francois, long-time chief steward; Vice President Stevan Kirschbaum, a founder of the local; Treasurer Georgia Scott, veteran of the 1965 Civil Rights battle on Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.; Financial Secretary Steven Gillis, the outgoing vice president and benefits administrator; Recording Secretary Claude “Tou Tou” St. […]