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News :: Labor & Economics |
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Santa Cruz City Workers Poised to Strike |
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by Vinny Lombardo |
01 Dec 2004
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About 500 Santa Cruz city workers, represented by SEIU Local 415, are poised to strike Friday at midnight when their contract expires.
According to Leslie Scanagatta, Local 415's chief spokesperson, rising costs of health care benefits, and low wages, are key issues on the bargaining table. She points out that city employees have twice agreed to a voluntarily wage freeze, to help the city get through a financial crunch, and haven't had a raise since April, 2002.
Irwin Young, human resources director for the City, said, "we've been working dilligently to reach an agreement." If an agreement isn't reached, he says, "we can continue to bargain, or the union then decides to take action."
Talks between the parties will continue on Thursday, and Friday, but Scanagatta says at this point, she's not hopeful. "Local 415 members spent the day making picket signs, and are prepared for the worst."
see also: SEIU Rank and File Revolt |
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Review :: Alternative Media : Arts & Culture : Resistance & Tactics |
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Looking Back Five Years to the Battle of Seattle |
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by compilation |
30 Nov 2004
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 November 30, 1999 represented a triumphal moment for worldwide civil resistance against a global economic system that gives private corporations more power than governments. In the morning hours of N30, 1999, tens of thousands of activists from across the globe converged in the streets of downtown Seattle, to shut down meetings of the World Trade Organization, the undemocratic, international governing forum of neoliberal globalization.
The conflict became infamous around the world, partially because of the violent police response to the largely peaceful demonstrations. In years since, N30 has been remembered in the streets of Seattle and around the globe, with marches, rallies and celebrations of resistance. Dialogues about the effectiveness of the movement have multiplied in number, both within and beyond activist circles. The date is also remembered as the birth of the Independent Media Center, www.Indymedia.org.
At the WTO protests in Seattle, we had a collective vision. We saw beyond the borders that divide us. We saw people come together across every kind of political and cultural difference and stand up in a way that we had not seen in this country for decades. We saw peaceful protests shut down one of the most powerful institutions in the world and we saw a system dazed and frightened by the sound of our voices.
 Audio: |
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Announcement :: Arts & Culture : Peace & War : Resistance & Tactics |
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Buy Nothing Day in Santa Cruz |
by danielsan
Email: danielsan (nospam) riseup.net |
26 Nov 2004
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 This Friday. November 26th. The "Biggest Shopping Day of the Year" Tell your friends, allies, neighbors, and family:
NO SHOPPING WHILE BOMBS ARE DROPPING
Buy Nothing Day is happening in Santa Cruz!!
I imagine some of you will want to be part of another Buy Nothing Day. Downtown, Art & Revolution are meeting at 1:30 at the Farmer's Market Lot (by toadal fitness). Capitola Mall will be a favorite spot, too.
Free Radio Santa Cruz will be "webcasting" all day as part of the Critical Mass Radio Network. Listen to broadcasts from Portland, LA, SF, NYC, SD, and from 2-4 PM all networked stations will be broadcasting FRSC's stream over the people's airwaves. The day's programming will be focused on "COLONIAL HOLIDAYs". Stay "tuned" to freakradio.org.
[ CRITICAL MASS BIKE RIDE (buy nothing day edition) I Fourth Critical Mass Radio Network Broadcast ] |
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Announcement :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Santa Cruz 9/11 Truth Network Events at the Vets Hall |
by Santa Cruz 9/11 Truth Network
Email: santacruz911truth (nospam) yahoo.com |
23 Nov 2004
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 If you question "the official story," don't miss these events!!
Tuesday, November 23 – Film.
“The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw.”
Toronto journalist Barrie Zwicker’s well-researched film traces the background of other 9/11 type events in recent history and reveals numerous anomalies that would lead any reasonable person to question the veracity of the "official story.”
Wednesday, December 1 – Speaker / Multimedia Presentation.
Ken Jenkins’ “Perspectives on 9/11: Exposing the Lies of the Official Story and Seeking the Truth.”
Using excerpts from eleven videos, the award winning Bay area media producer explores the historical context as well as what really happened on September 11, 2001.
Where and When: 7:30pm - Veterans' Hall, 846 Front St., S. C.
Donation of $5. (no one turned away).
Discussion after events.
see related: [ NO EVIDENCE OF 757 HITTING PENTAGON I Portland IMC's 911 Investigation I Mike Ruppert: The Truth and Lies of 9/11 ] |
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Interview :: Alternative Media |
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One Hundred New Pirate Radio Stations... |
by kirsten anderberg
Email: kirstena (nospam) resist.ca |
18 Nov 2004
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 After broadcasting over the radio airwaves in the Santa Cruz, Ca. area for almost 10 years without a license, in defiance of federal regulations, one day this fall, the U.S. government decided to take some action. On Sept. 29, 2004, Federal Marshals, aiding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), raided Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC), seizing radio equipment to disable their broadcasts. I wondered what FRSC volunteers, and other microradio, or “pirate,” radio station volunteers, were feeling about this raid. It seems so often the government does things like this to “set an example” for others, to be a warning to others engaging in similar activity, to deter them from continuing on with defiant behavior…and sometimes that type of governmental intimidation works, and sometimes it does not. Questions linger, such as what the federal government intends to do with FRSC’s seized radio equipment. I interviewed several West Coast microradio station volunteers about their reactions to the FRSC raid for this article.
[ Freak Radio I Enemy Combatant Radio I Free Radio Olympia I Radio 4 All I Micropower Radio Stations I Seizing the Airwaves, a free radio handbook I Micropower Broadcasting - A Technical Primer ] |
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An Injury to One is an Injury to All |
by Elaine Charkowski
Email: elained (nospam) got.net |
18 Nov 2004
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 Abuse of power is always wrong. Abuse of animals legitimizes the abuse of power over human beings (sexism, racism, homophobia and all the other "isms"). This leads to war.
What's the point of knitting a sweater-while unraveling it at the same time? Women fighting for reproductive and equal rights, social justice workers, gays and lesbians fighting homophobia, civil rights activists and even environmentalists "unravel" all their good work if they abuse their power over animals and Nature! What a bitter irony!
What is the source of racism, sexism, homophobia, exploitation of the poor by the rich, genocide, war and all the other ways humans oppress each other? Why are we arrogantly destroying Mother Earth who sustains all living beings-including humans and their global economy? Why do these insane practices from the age of barbarism continue?
[ United Poultry Concerns I Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth ] |
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News :: Education & Youth : Labor & Economics : Poverty & Urban Development |
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Students, Politicians and Community Members In Solidarity with UC Service Workers |
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by from the open-publishing newswire |
11 Nov 2004
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 On Wednesday, November 10, hundreds of people demonstrated and bargined at UC Santa Cruz for better wages and working conditions for AFSCME members at the nine University of California (UC) campuses and five medical centers. Local 3299 AFSCME members (American, Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees) are employed by the UC to serve food; clean bathrooms, dorms, labs, offices, and hospitals; drive shuttle buses, and park cars.
 In addition to a large rally in the Baytree Plaza, AFSCME workers, UC students and community members entered the bargining meeting that took place in Conference Room D above the Baytree Bookstore.
The rally and bargining meeting effectively demonstrated that AFSCME workers, UC students and members of the Santa Cruz community, including Mardi Wormhoudt, the Chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, and newly elected Santa Cruz City Council member Tony Madrigal, are committed to improving the working conditions for service workers in the UC system.
 Photos: [ Workers, Students and Community Members Rally in Baytree Plaza I Estudiantes y Trabajadores Undios a UCSC ]
Audio: UC Bargining Committee Hears from Workers and Supporters
Previous IMC Coverage: [ (5/20/04) UC Workers Hold Statewide Marches I (10/17/04) UC Service Workers Converge on Berkeley Campus ] |
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News :: Alternative Media : Government & Elections : Labor & Economics |
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Sprouts: Post-Mortem Look at Measure J |
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by Vinny Lombardo |
18 Nov 2004
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This election cycle was no different from past campaigns, in that the national races overshadowed local and state ballot initiatives. On Nov. 2 voters in Santa Cruz, CA handed a crushing defeat to the controversial Measure J. This county-wide initiative would have created a half-cent sales tax to finance transportation projects, primarily a 30 year plan to widen the Santa Cruz portion of California Highway 1. Issues of growth and traffic congestion would only compound if the highway were widened, oppponents said, and more than 60 % of voters agreed. Sprouts contributor Vinny Lombardo brings us this post-mortem look at Measure J.
[ Sprouts - radio from the grassroots I SCCRTC (Yes on J) I No on Measure J I Campaign for Sustainable Transportation (No on J) ] |
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