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Friday, December 2nd will see a full afternoon and evening of protest on the streets of San Francisco. With the rallying cry, "Stop the Cuts! Tax the Rich!", labor and community activists will occupy the Federal Building plaza at 7th and Mission from 2pm. Later in the afternoon they will march past symbols of corporate and financial corruption, continuing into the evening with a rally and concert at the OccupySF encampment at Justin Herman Plaza.
On September 27th, thousands of members of the four employee unions of the United States Postal Service joined forces with allies and community members to send a message to the nation and its Congress. All around the country, protesters demonstrated against proposals to close thousands of post offices, eliminate Saturday deliveries, lay off workers, cut postal workers’ pay, and end collective bargaining rights.
In San Francisco, members of UNITE HERE Local 2 and their supporters in the labor movement marched on Labor Day, September 5th, to draw attention to Local 2's ongoing struggle with the Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt. The march began at Union Square and proceeded to Hotel Frank on Geary, then on to the Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street. Local labor turned out in solidarity with UNITE HERE Local 2's struggle to obtain a fair contract with Hyatt. Some of the many unions that came were The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), The Teamsters, The American Federation of Teachers, and the Labor Studies program at S.F. State University.
Similarly in Santa Clara, hotel service workers of the union UNITE HERE Local 19 marked Labor Day by picketing the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, which has been the target of a boycott campaign launched by the union six months ago. Hyatt workers, who have been without a contract with the hotel, have been demanding recognition of the union through a card-check/neutrality agreement.
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Three San José Council Members and Mayor Chuck Reed are pushing for a bill that would strip city workers of benefits and take away their collective bargaining rights. Activists say the proposed bill is similar to the attacks on workers' rights that were recently rammed through Wisconsin’s legislature by an anti-labor governor. On June 23rd, they rallied in front of City Hall.
Labor supporters speaking from a podium said that attempts to declare a fiscal emergency in order to resolve the city's budget problems is misguided at best, and the mayor's fiscal plan would allow the city to renege on its promise to pay specific benefits to city employees. They pointed out at that federal and state labor law cases have consistently held that these changes cannot be made unless it is done through collective bargaining. Protesters called for an end to the City's union-busting tactics with speeches, chants and songs.
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South Bay Labor Council
In the culmination of a week of protests against proposed budget cuts to education, protesters gathered in the state capitol building in Sacramento on May 9th. Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "They say cut back, we say fight back." Students lead the way and two hundred others joined in, including teachers and community leaders. Students had come from up and down the state, including a large contingent from UC Santa Cruz. Following the chanting, sixty-five protesters committed nonviolent civil disobedience by sitting down and refusing to leave the Rotunda after the Capitol closed to the public for the day. All sixty-five were arrested. Those arrested were held overnight, and were kept with their hands handcuffed behind their backs for the first six hours of their detainment. Only three of those arrested were charged with resisting arrest, while the rest were charged with misdemeanor trespass.
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May Day 2011 for Labor and Immigrant Rights
On May 12th, Oakland Education Association (OEA) teachers and their supporters protested at the Wells Fargo bank on Broadway and 12th Street to demand that the bank use its wealth to stop the cuts in Oakland schools. Several staged a sit-in inside the bank branch and were arrested.
In announcing their action, Oakland Teachers declared: Oakland teachers are sick and tired that our schools suffer while the banks get a bailout, and we're fighting back. Wells Fargo received $25 Billion in bailout money. Wells Fargo made $12 Billion in 2010 and paid no taxes. Wells Fargo owns part of the debt of the Oakland Unified School District, a debt that increased drastically when the state took control of the district due to financial problems, leaving the district in worse financial shape than before the takeover.
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We are One Rallies in Solidarity with Wisconsin on April 4th
Auctioned off in a foreclosure sale one year ago, San Francisco's Hotel Frank in Union Square is now being run by anti-union hotel management company Provenance Hotels. Provenance has not honored the existing union contract; amongst other things it does not to contribute to workers' medical care and pensions. Staffing levels have decreased since Provenance took over and the management company has been charged with violating federal labor laws by the National Labor Relations Board. Meanwhile, local jazz club Yoshi's is getting a discount rate from Hotel Frank management and asking its musicians to cross a picket line and stay at the hotel while they are in town for performances.
Last week, the Portland Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and Seattle Solidarity Network organized a Day of Solidarity with Hotel Frank workers, holding picket lines at Provenance hotels in those cities.
Hotel Frank is under boycott and workers are picketing the hotel regularly on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:30pm and Fridays from 1:00 to 5:30pm.
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Boycott Hotel Frank Website
Supporters of International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Local 10 (S. F. Bay Area) rallied in downtown San Francisco on April 25th. At issue was the union's right to close the ports of Oakland, San Francisco, and other ports in the S. F. Bay Area. ILWU Local 10 closed the ports of San Francisco and Oakland for twenty-four hours on April 4th, as part of a national day of action for solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states. The employers association at the ports, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), has filed a lawsuit against Local 10 for the April 4th port closures. The PMA's suit seeks to prevent such future solidarity closures by the union.
Thousands of rallies and marches took place across the U. S. on April 4th, as part of the We Are One day of labor solidarity. Of all the actions taken by unions across the country, it was only Local 10 which chose to shut down the means of production. Speaker after speaker at the April 25th rally praised Local 10 as, “...the conscience of the U.S. labor movement,” “...the most militant and progressive union in the country,” “...a moral compass,” “...the heart and soul of the labor movement,” and said that they stood behind Local 10. Millie Cleveland ,of the OEA went further, “we don't want to stand behind Local 10, we want to stand beside them.”
Many speakers called for a general strike of all labor to confront the cutbacks, layoffs, and loss of collective bargaining rights workers are faced with. Quite a number criticized high ranking labor officials for holding the labor movement back from striking and other militant actions. Xan San Joi, of Code Pink, called for strike action to begin on May 1, 2011.
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ILWU Sued After Solidarity Work Stoppage Shut Ports on April 4th
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life.
On Monday, April 4th, 2011, local coalitions participated in nationwide actions to support Wisconsin workers, public services and the middle class. Organizers of the rally at the Santa Cruz County Government Center stated, "Dr. King was killed in Memphis, TN, where he had stood with sanitation workers who were struggling for the right to bargain collectively. The actions by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to eliminate collective bargaining – and the gradual eroding of the American middle class - only undermine that struggle."
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Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10, on KPFA Morning Mix, April 5
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Californians Demonstrate in Solidarity with Wisconsin Workers
On March 19th, thousands of people took to the streets to demand an end to U.S. war and military intervention abroad and funding for peoples' needs at home. Demonstrations took place in San Francisco, Fresno, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and many other cities across the United States and the world. At the opening rally in San Francisco, speakers condemned the launching of a new war against Libya, which had begun just hours before.
On March 8th, several hundred Modesto Junior College students responded to a call for a walkout against budget cuts that would result in the gutting of various departments and the laying off of faculty. Students rallied in the quad in front of the administration building for over half an hour. Also speaking at the rally were several faculty members who expressed solidarity with the students for standing with them. After rallying, students marched around campus then moved downtown, disrupting an event held by the Mayor of Modesto.
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Local Service Employee International Union (SEIU) members participating in the Occupy Day of Action demonstrations which took place on bridges around the country, joined members of Occupy Santa Cruz and members of the local MoveOn.org council to rally at the Santa Cruz County courthouse on November 17 in support of improving and repairing local infrastructure to stimulate job creation. The demonstration began on Water Street Bridge where community members held signs along the pedestrian areas of the bridge. The group made its way over to the front steps of the county courthouse where a rally was held and short speeches were made, including those from a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate who is currently between homes, a representative from the office of assembly member Bill Monning, members of the SEIU, the local MoveOn.org council, and a member of Occupy Santa Cruz. Approximately 100-200 people participated in the event, and afterwards a large part of the group attended Occupy Santa Cruz's general assembly.
