Orginally Published for RVAnews [ http://rvanews.com/news/public-bus-users-fight-increasing-fares-route-cuts/28781 ]

Public bus users fight increasing fares, route cuts
by Erica Terrini
June 8, 2010

.Rushing down East Broad Street on a Wednesday morning, 19-year-old Laura McWilliams dons her work uniform and a smile as she talks about her son, who she supports with her job on Virginia Commonwealth University’s MCV Campus.

As a life-long rider, McWilliams says she relies on the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) to get to work every day, traveling approximately 20 minutes from her apartment in Henrico Country to Downtown Richmond.

The roaring engine of the GRTC bus can be heard almost as soon as it becomes visible, and for many riders like McWilliams, the far off sound is as routine as their morning cup of coffee. However, with proposals of increasing fare prices and inaccessibility by cutting routes, public transportation is taking a back seat when it comes to funding, and commuters are beginning to notice.

PICTURE BANGLADEHS MAY DAY - The National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh led protest in Bangladesh on May Day. They demanded greater compensation for workers who have died in a fire at a factory sewing apparel for H and M. They march again on May 30!

PICTURE 4.27 City Council Pittsburgh - Darlene Harris, President of Pittsburgh City Council, hosted a post agenda hearing on August 27.

With help of Audrey Glickman, County officials, City officials and representatives of the Sports and Exhibition Authority heard the testimony of Kalpona Amber of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity and Zehra Bano of the General Secretary of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation of Pakistan.

Disclaimer: This story and its accompanying image are reprinted in accordance with Fair Use guidelines

By Katie Mulvaney - Providence Journal Staff Writer, Friday, May 7, 2010

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Superior Court Judge Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. Friday ordered a new trial for the woman accused of assaulting North Providence police officers during a protest in August 2007.

Rodgers ordered a new trial for Alexandra Svoboda on three counts of simple assault on the officers. Rodgers said he did not feel convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Svoboda had assaulted the officers by striking them with drumsticks during the protest, despite a jury's finding last week that she was guilty on all three counts.

Rodgers did, however, let stand the jury's verdict that 25-year-old Svoboda had resisted arrest while picketing Jacky's Galaxie on Mineral Spring Avenue that hot August day.

Then the union secretary of the Industrial Workers of the World, Svoboda and others were protesting because the restaurant had purchased rice and takeout containers from a New York supply company accused of mistreating its employees.

On April 5, 2010, iww.org won Shmoop's Best of the Web History of Labor Unions!

"Shmoop is an education website for students and teachers (middle school through college ages). [Their] mission is to make learning fun and relevant for today's students. Each of [their] learing guides includes a "Best of the Web" section, where [they] point teachers and students to quality, reliable websites for further exploration, and [they] picked [our] site!

"[Their] writers (who are mostly Ph.D. students at Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, etc.) pick the sites that go into their Best of the Web section. Teachers and students rely on [their] expert writers to point out only the highest quality websites. . ."

By John Jacobsen - Fellow Worker Jacobsen is a labor activist currently living in Seattle, Washington. He works as a welder’s apprentice with the Boilermakers Local 104, and is an organizer with both the Seattle Solidarity Network and the Industrial Workers of the World. He has written and spoken on labor and anti-war topics to audiences from Seattle to Portland to London. Originally Posted at Trial by Fire

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act would require immigrants in the state of Arizona to carry their alien registration documents on their persons at all times. It also requires police to question any person they may reasonably suspect is in the U.S. illegally.

The Act comes after years of increased public outcry for better enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

In response, grassroots organizations all over the country, from faith-based groups to labor unions, poured into the streets on May 1st to demand a repeal of the Arizona reforms.

May 1st, also known as International Workers’ Day, has traditionally marked the anniversary of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, 1886. But recently, the holiday has served as rallying point for labor activists and immigrant rights advocates to gather around.

Backlash – Mayday, 2010:

In all, over 90 cities saw tens of thousands of protestors march, and a large number of high-profile politicians and celebrities speak out against the Arizona law.

In this video, you can see U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) being arrested for participating in an act of civil disobedience at the white house.

In another high-profile disagreement with Arizona, the Major League Baseball Players Association released a statement condemning SB1070.

In Chicago, between eight and fifteen thousand people gathered in support of immigrant rights only days after activists attempted to physically block deportation vans in their city. In Dallas, around 20,000 rallied.

Los Angelas saw by far the largest protests, massing about 50,000 marchers at its height, focusing predominantly on the Arizona reforms. Five coalitions, representing over 150 labor, faith, and immigrant rights organizations banded together to put out the call for the protests. Protestors in the march chanted “boycott Arizona,” and wore t-shirts asking “do I look illegal?”

Greetings from the International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and welcome to the second of our irregularly published international news letters.

The purpose of this newsletter is to keep our allies around the world informed of our activities, solidarity campaigns, and relevant international labor struggles. It is our hope that this newsletter will contribute to building worker-to-worker solidarity through strengthened communications and exchanges of information.

If you would like to contribute story ideas or news for the bulletin, or wish to contact the ISC, you can email solidarity [at] iww.org.

Saludos de la Comisión de Solidaridad Internacional (ISC) de los Trabajadores Industriales del Mundo (IWW) y dar la bienvenida a la primera de la carta publicada irregularmente noticias internacionales.