INTERNATIONAL LABOUR BANGLADESH:

SEND A MESSAGE TO SECRETARY CLINTON ABOUT BANGLADESH WORKERS:

The following appeal to send a Labor Day message to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes from the International Labor Rights Forum.

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Ask Secretary Clinton to help the workers in Bangladesh who make our clothes.


Send an Email This Labor Day to Request Secretary Clinton Make Good on Commitments to Labor Rights as a Priority in U.S. Trade Policy!

As you have seen over the past couple of weeks, our comrades in Bangladesh continue to remain imprisoned as the Government of Bangladesh uses them as a scapegoat for the turmoil in the garment industry.

The highly respected labor leaders Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity need more support from the US government. Secretary Clinton has an opportunity to use the policies already in place to demand swift action by the Government of Bangladesh to end this harassment campaign. Right now, the US government is considering the status of special trade preferences for Bangladesh. Our government needs to be clear whether it stands behind human rights for workers, or just business as usual. Secretary Clinton can do the right thing but needs some encouragement from you.

Send an email NOW to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging immediate action.

Just two days ago, ILRF and the AFL-CIO provided new information about Bangladesh to the United States Trade Representative. Secretary Clinton and others within the Obama Administration have ample evidence that the charges against Kalpona and Babul are completely false and that intervention is required immediately.

Justice will prevail for Kalpona and Babul though we all need to help make this a realization. Your action on this important message means a great deal to us and we will continue to update you as things move forward in Bangladesh.

Onwards,
Bama Athreya, Executive Director

PS. By taking action now, not only will your message get sent immediately, but I will also hand-deliver all the messages to the State Department next week.
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This message was brought to you by the International Labor Rights Forum.

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THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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I want you to know I am very concerned about the harassment, unlawful arrest, detention and physical abuse of courageous labor activists in Bangladesh.

On August 13, 2010, two internationally known labor leaders, Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), were arrested and detained by the Government of Bangladesh. BCWS is a highly respected organization that the US government itself has looked to for information and insight concerning labor conditions in the country's garment industry.

The US is a key importer of apparel and consumers like myself ask that our government help ensure we are not exploiting workers or repressing human rights to make our clothes. As a citizen concerned about human and labor rights around the world, I am appalled by the persecution of these activists and expect the US to take immediate action.

The persecution of labor rights advocates is taking place in the context of severe and ongoing labor rights abuses and lack of respect for the rule of law in Bangladesh. Most of those making these clothes are women. They need decent jobs to support their families, and they need advocates like Kalpona and Babul to support them as they stand up for their rights. I know that the US has continued to state that our trade policy is one that does require those we trade with to respect human and labor rights, and you yourself have been a champion for human rights and particularly women's rights around the world.

I urge you to do the following:

- Hold an immediate hearing on trade preference benefits that are received by Bangladesh.

- Take all possible measures to communicate to the Government of Bangladesh the urgency of ending the persecution of BCWS and its leaders.

- Make it known to the Government of Bangladesh that the US is committed to making sure workers' rights are respected around the world.

The US government has done business as usual with Bangladesh for too long. Now it has an important opportunity and obligation to speak out against these injustices in Bangladesh and I hope that you will be a leader in this charge.

Sincerely,

HUMOUR:

THE HAPPY NEWS CHANNEL:

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:

MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN WINNIPEG:

No, this is not political. It's merely one of the many Winnipeg events that come Molly's way that I think you might find interesting. Here's the notice of the celebration of Mexican Independence Day up here in Winnipeg.No it's not the Cinquo de Mayo. It's the actual real national celebration. Here's the notice and invitation.

MWMWMWMWMW
Mexican Independence Celebration @ La Bamba
Time September 15 · 7:30pm - 11:30pm
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Location La Bamba Mexican Restaurant.
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Created By Mariachi-ghost Ánimas
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More Info

Come Celebrate Mexican Independence with us... The Mexicans.
A Real Mexican Experience.

Mariachi-ghost Ánimas Specials From Tuesday September 14th to Thursday September 16th, 2010.
1. Chile En Nogada2. Enchiladas Verdes3. Chiles Rellenos
The Mexican Flag at La Bamba will be hoisted up at City Hall in the morning of the 15th and taken down at 7pm. Please, in part with Mex Y Can Association of Manitoba that we all go and witness t...he flag coming down and then back to La Bamba Restaurant. Adriana Will be selling Tickets for the Dinner with the Mexican Consulate this same Evening that will take place a Coboto Centre on September 16th

CANADIAN LABOUR TORONTO:

FANTASY MEETS REALITY AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

The Toronto International Film Festival opened on Friday, and delegates were treated to a demonstration of the frustration of the workers employed by the host hotel. The workers of the Hyatt Regency, represented by Unite Here Local 75, staged a one day walkout to protest management intransigence in contract talks. Here's the story from a union press release.

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Hotel workers forced to take one-day strike at Hyatt Regency Toronto
Film industry unions support workers striking against TIFF hotel headquarters


TORONTO--Hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency, home of this year's Toronto International Film Festival, have begun a one-day walkout after they bargained past a midnight deadline without reaching a new agreement.

Picketing is to begin at 7:30 a.m. this morning. A massive rally of hotel workers and others from across the city will take place at 5:30 p.m. today in front of the hotel. Unions from the film sector will rally in support of the hotel workers, saying that good hotel jobs, like good film jobs, are vital for the economic health of the city.

"We will be holding one day of action on Friday and will be back to work on Saturday," explained Althea Porter-Harvey, a Hyatt employee and member of UNITE HERE Local 75 which represents the workers. "We are still hopeful we can reach an agreement."

"While we're struggling to make hotel jobs good jobs, these wealthy owners keep buying and selling properties and treating us as if we still in a recession," Porter-Harvey continued. "The Mangalji and Pritzker families, who own and operate these hotels, need to have more regard for hotel workers. All we are asking is that they not lock in the recession for their workers, because the recession is over in the hotel sector."

The Hyatt, the host hotel for the Toronto International Film Festival opening next Thursday, is owned by the little-known Mangalji family and operated by the Pritzker family, which cashed out over $900 million in their sale of Hyatt shares in late 2009.

"Our industry spends a lot of money on hotels and it's frankly shocking to discover that the people who work so hard to make up the rooms we're paying for are being treated so poorly," said Heather Allin, President of ACTRA Toronto. "If Toronto's hotel workers cannot resolve relations with Hyatt to ensure workers are treated with respect, then my union will support Hyatt workers in this city and across the continent. They deserve to make a decent living from the work they do. Hyatt will face a determined boycott if they aren't fair to the hard working people who make their hotels possible."

The hotel workers have sent a public statement to TIFF Festival chief Piers Handling stating that despite the fact most contracts expired on 1/31/2010,

We exercised restraint, had a limited strike at the Novotel Toronto Centre, and did not strike during the G20. We have continued to work through Caribana and Pride and the busy summer tourist season. All the while we have been bargaining with some of the biggest hotel chains in an attempt to get a decent new contract. To no avail. At not a single hotel has management attempted to get a decent new contract… We are aware that [the Hyatt] is a central hotel to the Toronto International Film Festival. There is a legal strike/lockout deadline of September 3, 2010. It is also a hotel chain with examples of shameful treatment of its workers both here and around North America.

In both Canada and the U.S., the hotel industry is rebounding faster and stronger than expected but hotel workers are not sharing in that improved fortune. During the first quarter of 2010, occupancy and average daily hotel rates increased nationwide, leading to a 2.77% increase in RevPAR, or Revenue per Available Room, nationwide, according to Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Valuation Services data.

Local 75 represents over 7,000 hotel, hospitality and gaming workers in the Greater Toronto Area. For more information, please visit www.uniteherelocal75.org .

HUMOUR:

CANADIAN VIEW OF PARLIAMENT:

HUMAN RIGHTS:

NO LECTURES FROM WAR CRIMINALS:

This appeal in recently from the School of the Americas Watch. The ex-president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, is due to give a series of lectures at Georgetown University as a "distinguished scholar". During his tenure as President Colombia earned the distinction of being the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. Here's the story and appeal from the SOAW.

SOAWSOAWSOAW
U.S. and Colombia

Keep Colombian Ex-President Alvaro Uribe out of Georgetown and send him packing to La Picota prison in Colombia!
Take Action Here

Georgetown University has recently announced that former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe will be named a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership," and will soon begin giving seminars at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). Uribe has said it is a "great honor" for him, and that his "greatest wish and happiness is to contribute in the continuous emergence of future leaders."

Uribe's 8-year tenure in Colombia was rife with corruption, human rights violations and widespread impunity. In a letter in June to the White House, Human Rights Watch expressed "serious concerns" about the Uribe administration's record on and commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.


◘◘ More than 3 million Colombians (out of a population of about 40 million) have been forced to flee their homes, giving Colombia the second-largest population of internally displaced persons in the world after Sudan.


◘◘ More than 70 members of the Colombian Congress are under criminal investigation or have been convicted for allegedly collaborating with the paramilitaries. Nearly all these congresspersons are members of President Uribe's coalition in Congress, and the Uribe administration repeatedly undermined the investigations and discredited the Supreme Court justices who started them.


◘◘ Colombia has the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.


◘◘ A clandestine gravesite of 2,000 non-identified bodies was recently discovered directly beside a military base in La Macarena, in central Colombia. When the news became public, Uribe flew to the Macarena and said publicly that accusing the armed forces of human rights abuses was a tactic used by the guerrilla. These comments put the lives of those victims who spoke at the event in grave danger.


◘◘ Starting in 2008, reports came out that the Colombian military was luring poor young men from their homes with promises of employment, then killing them and presenting them as combat casualties. The practice not only served to stack battle statistics, but also financially benefited the soldiers involved, as Uribe's government had, since 2005, awarded monetary and vacation bonuses for each insurgent killed. Human rights groups cite 3,000 or more "false positives".


Students, community activists and religious leaders have already spoken out against the university's decision, and will be planning actions of protest for this fall.

Take action NOW, by signing this letter to Georgetown University President, Mr. John J. DeGioia.

SOAWSOAWSOAW

THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following letter to the President of Georgetown University.

SOAWSOAWSOAW

Mr. DeGioia,

As a person concerned with human rights, I believe that it is not only unacceptable but also completely unethical for Georgetown University to give Colombia’s ex-president Álvaro Uribe the title of “distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership.” This sends the message that Georgetown University is not committed to upholding human rights or its own professed Jesuit values. I demand that Georgetown sides with the victims of human rights abuses and not with the perpetrators. Uribe is a criminal, and therefore not suitable to teach at a prestigious university such as Georgetown.

Uribe’s eight-year tenure in Colombia was rife with corruption, human rights violations and widespread impunity. In a letter in June 2009 to the White House, the NGO Human Rights Watch expressed “serious concerns” about the Uribe administration's record on and commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Uribe’s accusations against union leaders, teachers, and members of the Supreme Court, which have seriously threatened their lives and caused multiple human rights abuses. Along with his cooperation in anti-opposition attacks, he is suspected to be involved in multiple scandals in which more than 70 of his allies in the Colombian Congress were under criminal investigation for links to paramilitary groups and corruption.

Charges by human rights organizations against Uribe include, but are not limited to, collaboration with paramilitary groups in the “false positives” scandal, which entailed luring 3,000 or more poor young men to their deaths, posing them as guerillas fighters and paying bonuses to the soldiers responsible. His legacy also includes extensive illegal phone tapping, email interception, and surveillance of critics of his administration. Not only was Uribe a destabilizing force in the region, but under Uribe’s presidency, there was also a significant rise in extrajudicial killings of civilians, and specific targetting of labor leaders, attributed to the Colombian Army, well as millions displaced from Colombians and other bordering nations. In addition, under Uribe’s administration the Colombian government violated international humanitarian law by wrongly using the Red Cross emblem in a hostage situation.

We urge you to rethink your decision about hiring Uribe as a member of your staff, and instead insist that Uribe stand trial and undergo an investigation for the human rights abuses that took place under his presidency. Unless you believe that corruption, violence and scandals are valuable tools for your students, as the President of Georgetown University, it is imperative that you take a stance on the side of justice and denounce Uribe’s human rights violations by terminating his connection with your university. Uribe should not be honored by Georgetown’s academic prestige, but should instead pay for the crimes that he committed.

Sincerely,

HUMOUR:

A SENSE OF PRIORITIES:

ECONOMY:

YOU GO DOWN THEY GO UP:

Here's an interesting item from the American Institute for Policy Studies. It seems that the recession is hitting some (workers) much harder than it is hitting others (corporate management). Here's the story. You can access the full report at the IPS website. Please note that the IPS names names and salaries and that they also want this news spread as far as possible.>>>

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Executive Excess 2010: CEO Pay and the Great Recession
By Sarah Anderson, Chuck Collins, Sam Pizzigati, Kevin Shih

The 17th annual executive compensation survey looks at how CEOs laid off thousands while raking in millions.
America’s CEOs had a terribly rough 2009. Or so the national and regional executive pay surveys released so far this year would suggest. “CEOs See Pay Fall Again,” blared one headline early this past spring. “CEO pay rankings dominated by large salary cuts,” read another in June. “Silicon Valley bosses,” summed up still another, “get pay cut.” Month after month, the headlines have pounded home a remarkably consistent message: Corporate executives, here in the Great Recession, are suffering, too.

Corporate executives, in reality, are not suffering at all. Their pay, to be sure, dipped on average in 2009 from 2008 levels, just as their pay in 2008, the first Great Recession year, dipped somewhat from 2007. But executive pay overall remains far above inflation adjusted levels of years past. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, CEO pay in 2009 more than doubled the CEO pay average for the decade of the 1990s, more than quadrupled the CEO pay average for the 1980s, and ran approximately eight times the CEO average for all the decades of the mid-20th century.

American workers, by contrast, are taking home less in real weekly wages than they took home in the 1970s. Back in those years, precious few top executives made over 30 times what their workers made. In 2009, we calculate in the 17th annual Executive Excess, CEOs of major U.S. corporations averaged 263 times the average compensation of American workers. CEOs are clearly not hurting.

But they are, as we detail in these pages, causing others to needlessly hurt — by cutting jobs to feather their own already comfortable executive nests. In 2009, the CEOs who slashed their payrolls the deepest took home 42 percent more compensation than the year’s chief executive pay average for S&P 500 companies. Most careful analysts of the high-finance meltdown that ushered in the Great Recession have concluded that excessive executive compensation played a prime causal role. Outrageously high rewards gave executives an incentive to behave outrageously, to take the sorts of reckless risks that would eventually endanger our entire economy. Our nation’s leading political players have sought, sometimes with grand fanfare, to confront this reality. Leading politicos have been railing against excessive executive bonuses and inappropriately high incentives ever since the economy nosedived. Various executive pay reforms and regulations have even found their way into the statute book. The financial industry reform package enacted this July, for instance, codifies into law several long-term goals of the executive pay reform community, most notably a “say on pay” provision that hands shareholders

the right to take nonbinding advisory votes on executive compensation. Will measures like these rein in excessive executive rewards? Will they begin to significantly narrow the corporate pay gap? That appears doubtful. The UK, for instance, has had a “say on pay” provision on the books since 2002, and that provision has not prevented a continuing executive pay spiral. Despite the recession, UK executive compensation sits substantially above pre-“say on pay” levels. To bring executive pay back down to mid-20th century levels, we need reforms that cut to the quick, that recognize the dangers banks and major corporations create when they dangle oversized rewards for executive “performance.” Some reforms that would move us in that direction are now pending in Congress. Others have yet to make their way onto the congressional docket.

We offer, in this Executive Excess edition, our first comprehensive analysis of all these reform proposals, those already passed, those still pending, and those promising initiatives not yet on our U.S. political radar screen. Our goal: to rate the reform steps already taken and highlight the steps we still need to take. Thorough executive pay reform, we remain convinced, holds an important key to our healthy economic future.

HUMOUR:

RETURN OF THE REPUBLICANS SHOWING SOON AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU:

AMERICAN LABOUR MINNEAPOLIS:

'JIMMY JOHNS' WORKERS SIGN UP WITH IWW:

It may be a good omen for the upcoming IWW convention. In Minneapolis IWW organizers have managed to sign up the workers at a 'Jimmy Johns' fast food outlet. Here's the basic story from the Jimmie Johnes Workers Union (IWW). This story is also on Winnipeg's local IWW blog the 'Winnipeg Wobbly'. Hopefully there will be further updates there.

ALALALALAL
First in Nation, Jimmy Johns Sandwich Workers Join Union to Increase Minimum Wage Pay
Fast Food Chain Rocked by Work Stoppages in Sign of Mounting Economic Frustration among US Workers

Press Conference and Rally: 4pm September 2, Block E Jimmy Johns, Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS- Service was anything but 'freaky fast' at Jimmy Johns today as workers walked off the kitchen floor in an unprecedented move to demand improved wages and working conditions at nine Minneapolis franchise locations. Announcing the formation of the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union, the workers are seeking a pay increase to above minimum wage, consistent scheduling and minimum shift lengths, regularly scheduled breaks, sick days, no-nonsense workers compensation for job-related injuries, an end to sexual harassment at work, and basic fairness on the job.

“I have been working at Jimmy Johns for over two years and they still pay me minimum wage and schedule me one-hour shifts,” said Rikki Olsen, a union member at the Block E location. “I'm working my way through school and can barely make ends meet. I'd get another job, but things are just as bad across the service industry. Companies like Jimmy John's are profitable and growing, they need to provide quality jobs for the community.”

The Minneapolis franchise, owned and operated by Miklin Enterprises, Inc., pays the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr, offers no benefits, and has no full-time positions outside of management. Jimmy Johns corporate website lists $264,270 as the average yearly net profit for operating a franchise. Union members estimate that Rob and Mike Mulligan, owners of Miklin, Inc. made an annual profit of at minimum $2.3 million in the last year alone. The Miklin franchise plans to open four new locations this year at an estimated cost of over $1.2 million.

Jake Foucault, a delivery driver at the Riverside store, said, “ If Mike and Rob Mulligan have the money to open four new stores, then they have the money to pay us more than minimum wage. We hope Rob and Mike do the right thing and come to the negotiating table.”

A negotiating committee of Jimmy Johns workers plans to meet with the Mulligans at the central office of the franchise to begin discussions at 4:00pm today.

The fast food workers' move to unionize is emblematic of mounting frustration amongst US workers with the sluggish pace of recovery from the Recession. With unemployment rates hovering around 9.5%, many workers view low wage service jobs as their only option. Employment in the food service industry is expected to grow 8.4% from 2008 to 2018, higher than the 7.7% rate predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all industries. Wages and working conditions in the fast food industry are widely regarded as substandard; in 2009, about 17% of food workers earned at or below $5.15 an hour after taxes, the highest percentage of any occupational group.

The union campaign at Jimmy Johns could hold deep implications for other companies in the fast food industry, a sector known for the lowest rates of unionization- and lowest wages- in the United States. Only 1.8% of food service workers were represented by a union in 2009, far below the nation-wide figure of 12.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The question of unionization of the food and service industries looms is assuming greater focus as employment in these non-union sectors increases, while manufacturing, the traditional stronghold of unionization, slides further into decline.

The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Gaining prominence in recent years for organizing Starbucks workers, the IWW is a global union founded over a century ago for all working people.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT VICTORIA:

VICTORIA ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:

Ah Fall. The changing colours of the leaves. The call of the migrant birds....and the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair. Here's the announcement of that upcoming wonder.

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September 11th and 12th, 2010
Victoria Anarchist Bookfair dates: September 11th and 12th, 2010

NEW LOCATION! 680 Courtney Street, Songhees & Esquimalt Territories

Festival of Anarchy dates: September 3rd to 12th, 2010

We are happy to announce the fifth year of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair, located on unceded Songhees Territory in Victoria, British Columbia. The Bookfair is for anarchists and non-anarchists, with participants from all over North America and beyond. We seek to introduce anarchism to the public, to further elaborate upon current and historical anarchist ideals and to foster dialogue between various anarchist tendencies. Participants from different anarchist traditions, visions, and practices are welcome. Events include book and information tables, workshops, readings, films, presentations, and much more. A Festival of Anarchy will take place during the week before the Bookfair, beginning on September 3rd, 2010.

We are proud to have received Monday Magazine's 'M Award' for Victoria's best literary event in 2009.

It's our 5th Birthday and we're going to have a blast!

Volunteers

We need your help! Please consider reading through our Volunteer section to help out behind-the scenes this year.

Activities for Kids

Bring your kids to the bookfair! Of course kids are welcome in all areas of the bookfair, but the kids room is a place where there are toys, games, story time and more! Open all day, for both days of the Bookfair.

Please Note: The Anarchist Kids Activity Room is NOT a child minding space.

We will try to have adults in the kids room at all times, and will definitely have adults present the majority of the time. Parents are welcome to stay with their children and informal child-watching is encouraged (you watch my kids, I'll watch yours kinda thing). Parents must stay at the bookfair.

Anarchist Kids Activities - please consider helping us organize:
* Face-painting
* Kids arts & crafts
* Storytelling & reading
* Games & toys
* Appropriately themed movies
* A resting space for tired tots

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The Victoria Anarchist Bookfair, like the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, is actually part of a more extended 'Festival of Anarchy' that starts tonight, September 3. Here's more on these events.

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Festival of Anarchy Schedule
The Festival of Anarchy starts on September 3rd and builds up the momentum for opening day of the Anarchist Bookfair. This year we are proud to host a wide variety of events featuring many talented artists, musicians, film-makers and activists. Check out the line up!

Friday, September 3rd

PANIC!: FREEDOM IN SOUND 2
Camas Books, 2590 Quadra Street

Sound art, experimental music and performance, plus DIY art gallery
arrive at 5 pm to hang your art
7 pm for PANIC! Freedom in Sound

Saturday, September 4th

WE HAVE NO LEADERS! Benefit show for Kelly Pflug-Back
Mike XVX, Jeff Andrew, Star, Comrade Black, Chase, Sasha n Nedjo & more friends
$5-$15 sliding scale, no one turned away! All money raised goes to Kelly's legal defence
7:30 pm, BCGEU, 2994 Douglas St (PLEASE NOTE NEW ADDRESS)

Kelly Pflug-Back is a long time community organizer, whom has been targeted by the police and scape-goated as "the leader of the black bloc" from the G20. She is facing 13 charges including conspiracy, and mischief. The courts are viewing her charges as "hate crimes" against the police, meaning if she is convicted she will be given a stiffer sentence than normal.

This is a blatant misuse of hate crime legislation originally intended to protect identifiable minorities from racist, homophobic or sexist violence. We believe Kelly is being targeted for her roll as a community organizer doing anti-racist and anti-poverty work in her community.

Sunday, September 5th

URBAN CAPTURE THE FLAG
8:00 pm in Bastion Square

Capture the Flag is a team-based game popularized by the Boy Scouts of America as a way to prepare boys for conscription during the World Wars. Urban Capture the Flag (UCTF) is a 21st Century detournement of this practice, primarily organized by anarchists in North America as a way to build community, reclaim the streets and public space, develop insurrectionary and protest tactics for affinity groups, produce a counter-spectacle for passers-by and build group morale through risk-taking together.

Monday, September 6th

Anarchist ‘day of rest’

Tuesday, September 7th

PRISONS AT THE FRONT LINE OF REVOLUTION
A Victoria Anarchist Reading Circle event with Juliet Belmas
7:30 pm Camas Books, 2590 Quadra Street

After a lengthy prison term for smashing the state, Juliet Belmas has gone on to produce several award-winning short films about women in prison. Her painterly cinematic style and experimental production values have been characterized ‘subtle, yet harrowing.’ This evening she will discuss the politics of incarceration, including recent round-ups at the G-20 summit in Toronto, and why prisons are a “front-line” in the anarchist struggle. ( Sad as it is we have to interrupt this recorded announcement here and now. Julie "fucking" Belmas !!! Now I can die happy because I have indeed seen everything. It's things like this that make me doubt the sanity of some of my presumed "comrades". I have learned over the years that the way they see "reality" is quite different from the way I see it or, more importantly the way that over 99% of the population views it. And I think that a "health warning" should be put on much of their pronouncements insofar as the stated content is quite remote from their actual motivations. If I didn't claim the "anarchist" label I'd perhaps feel pity rather than annoyance. On the other hand I see what I have been doing for almost 40 years as 'politics', and they see it as ???? )

Wednesday, September 8th

FUCK YOU!
7:30 pm Camas Books, 2590 Quadra Street

An introduction to kink and sex toys with Michelle Powell.

Thursday, September 9th

END:CIV SCREENING
Franklin López--Director/Producer, subMedia
7:30 pm, Camas Books, 2590 Quadra Street

END:CIV examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: "If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?"

Taking the long view: endless economic growth has turned into a global economic crash. What will the next hundred years bring? Students of history know that all civilizations eventually come to an end. The ancient Mayans, the dynasties of China, and the mighty Roman Empire, as long-lived and powerful as they were, could not escape this inevitability. The same goes for the culture we call Western Civilization. The causes underlying the collapse of civilizations are usually traced to overuse of resources. As we write this, the world is reeling from economic chaos, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation, and political turmoil. Every day the headlines re-hash stories of scandal and betrayal of the public trust. We don't have to make outraged demands for the end of the current global system -- it seems to be coming apart already.

But acts of courage, compassion and altruism abound, even in the most damaged places. By documenting the resilience of the people hit hardest by war and repression, and the heroism of those coming forward to confront the crisis head-on, END:CIV illuminates a way out of this all-consuming madness and into a saner future.

http://endciv.com/
http://submedia.tv/
Twitter http://twitter.com/stimulator

Friday, September 10th

HIP HOP / SPOKEN WORD NIGHT OF DISSENT
Open Space Artist Run Centre: 510 Fort Street, 2nd Floor
You won't wanna miss this show and you have no excuse to miss it cause it's by donation!! (suggested, $5-$15)
7:00 pm sharp

This year's "Night of Dissent" will be the most engaging of the past 4 years! With a new, larger venue (Open Space) and a visual arts show we plan on hitting you hard with positive political message. World War 3 Illustrated artists Seth Tobocman, Rebecca Migdal and Kevin Pyle present visual and spoken word stories of protest and resistance. TESTAMENT, Blank Space & mONKEYwRENCH bring the heat with their Revolutionary Lyricism and Battle Style Beatboxing. While the Revolutionary Cyborg Wedding Band gets you up off your seat for a little electro hip hop, Chase & Zaccheaus Jackson ground you with their stories and slam poetry.

Saturday, September 11th

GRAPHIC RADICALS OPENING
7:30 pm: Legacy Gallery, 630 Yates Street

Graphic Radicals is a “themed” presentation of the work of World War 3 Illustrated, a New York-based artists’ collective, from the 1980s to the present day. The art confronts issues such as anti-war protests, squatting in New York, the tragedies of 9-11, racism, prisons and anarchism. Graphic Radicals includes dozens of works in the form of posters, graphic illustrations, paintings, banners and other media.

Join the artists of World War 3 Illustrated as they celebrate 30 years of activism.

Sunday, September 12th

CAMAS' 3rd FOLKIN' ANNIVERSARY
Camas Books and Infoshop. 2590 Quadra
This event is all ages. No one is turned away at the door, but we suggest a donation of $5-$15 (Pay What You Can)
8:00pm

Camas' 3rd Folkin' Anniversary will be a night to remember!! With local acts like "Ursula" & "Gumshoe & the Banshee" you’re sure not to forget the haunting circus-esque energy of the evening. Without-A-Net will join us with some klezmer, Starla with her folk punk and Buffalo Buffalo (inc Cap'n'Kops from The Rough Sea) is coming from the East (on tour) to start the night off with some ol'timey folk songs (so come early!!)

Being a fundraiser for both Camas Books and the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair, we hope that you come out in droves to celebrate and help the cause.

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Here's more about tonight's event in Victoria, a benefit for those arrested during the G20 demonstrations in Toronto.

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Kicking off the 2010 Festival of Anarchy!

All donation money raised goes toward G20 legal defence
....
5:00 – Panarchy! @ The People's Gallery 2 - Guerrilla Art Hanging

DiY, open source, guerrilla bring yr own art show! All are welcome to
participate! Bring yr paintings, drawings, photos, sculptures,
installations, found art, interactive art + homegrown fashions.

8:00 – Freedom In Sound 2

Experimental music, sound art, noise and performance art featuring

Ha Ha Terror
Froghat
Wyldechylde
Brian Stubbs
Lotusland Warrior
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HUMOUR:

LESSONS FROM HISTORY:

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
IN THE WAKE OF THE G20:



Here's an upcoming event down Toronto way in the wake of the massive arrests surrounding the G20 summit in that city.
G20G20G20G20


Strengthening Our Resolve
Time September 17 · 6:30pm - 11:30pm

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Location Ryerson University - Rogers Communication Centre, room RCC 204 (Eaton Lecture Theatre), (80 Gould Street, Toronto ON)

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Created By Toronto Community Mobilization Network
(or the website -Molly)

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More Info
Strengthening Our Resolve: Movement Building and Ongoing Resistance to the G20 Agenda

http://g20.torontomobilize.org/node/486

Speakers include Alex Hundert, Jen Meunier, Judy Rebick, Liisa
...Schofield, Ro Velasquez, Harsha Walia, and a representative from the
Greater Toronto Workers Assembly

This is a Pay What You Can event. All contributions go to the G20
Legal Defence Fund (http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )

While 40,000 demonstrated and over 1000 were arrested in the streets of Toronto, so-called leaders met behind a security fence and 10,000 police to further their exploitation of people and the Earth. Hundreds face G20-related charges stemming from an unprecedented coordinated police operation, and political dissent remains criminalized as arrests of community organizers have occurred as recently as September.

Meanwhile, across the globe we see G20 austerity measures snatching away health, educational and social services, while the governments of G20 countries continue to bail out banks and corporations. Locally, we witness racist criminalization of migrants and refugees becoming more vicious, while colonization and destruction of Indigenous nations and their lands continues. Many of us daily experience the entrenchment of a racist, ableist, patriarchal, queer-phobic, profit-driven culture, while countless bodies bear the violence of an oppressive police state that enforces these norms.

Join us in this event with speakers and discussion about responses the G20 agenda, and making linkages across issues and ongoing struggles. With courage and with care, this event is about building solidarity and understanding, about creating real alternatives to this
exploitative and destructive system, and to strengthen our resolve to
continue resisting.

For more information email alex.hundert@gmail.com or call 416 922 4595.

Sponsored by: Toronto Community Solidarity Network, the 247 G20
Defence Committee, CAW Sam Gindin Social Justice and Democracy Chair, OPIRG York, OPIRG Toronto, CUPE 3903 First Nations Solidarity Working Group, CUPE 3907

- Alex Hundert is a G20 defendant charged with “conspiracy” who was arrested in a violent pre-emptive house raid. He has been targeted as a “ringleader” for his role in Indigenous solidarity and anarchist networks including AW@L, SOAR and the Six Nations Solidarity Network.

- Jen Meunier is an Anishinaabekwe (Algonquin) Indigenous
sovereigntist who has been involved in land defense struggles from
Site 41 and Six Nations to the No Olympics on Stolen Native Land
campaign.

- Judy Rebick is an author, past CAW-Sam Gindin Chair in Social
Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University, past president of the
National Action Committee on the Status of Women, media commentator, and founding publisher of rabble.ca.

- Liisa Schofield is a documentary filmmaker, an anti-poverty activist
with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, and an activist for
Palestinian rights.

- Ro Velasquez is an artist, York University student, and a member of
the Queer Resistance Network. She is active in movements rooted in
racialized, immigrant, and queer communities of resistance.

- Harsha Walia is an organizer with No One Is Illegal-Vancouver. She
is involved in migrant justice, Indigenous solidarity,
anti-imperialist, anti-poverty, feminist organizing. She has been
active in the 2010 Olympics and G20 convergences.

AMERICAN LABOUR:

TELL KROGERS TO DEMAND PROOF:

The United Farm Workers (UFW) have fought long and hard to unionize grape pickers at Giumarra Vineyards and improve the dismal working conditions there. As part of their campaign they have pressured Giumarra customers such as the Krogers grocery chain to live up to their ethical business statements in respect to Giumarra. The UFW have launched yet another public appeal for customers to demand that businesses such as Kroger live up to their statements and demand proof from the likes of Giumarra Vineyards. Here's the story and appeal from the UFW.

ALALALALAL
Krogers lets Giumarra violate their code of conduct

Since the beginning of this year, clergy and farm worker supporters have been expressing concern to the Kroger grocery chain (which includes Ralphs, Food for Less, Fred Meyer, QFC, Frys, Baker's, City Market, Dillions, Foods Co, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC Stores, King Soopers, Owen's Market, Scotts Food & Pharmacy, Smiths Food & Drug, Smith's Marketplace, Turkey Hill, and more) over widespread accounts of worker abuse at Giumarra Vineyards. Giumarra supplies Kroger with table grapes and other fruits and vegetables under their Nature's Partner label. Concerned consumers nationwide have sent letters, e-mails and even met with company representatives in order to urge Kroger to hold Giumarra accountable. Kroger has failed to respond. Take a moment to let this retail giant know that they have a responsibility to uphold the standards they have set for their vendors.

In its 2010 Sustainability Report, Kroger features a Code of Conduct for its vendors (page 19). In addition to listing out standards for suppliers, the code states that vendors must be able to demonstrate compliance. But, according to worker testimony, Giumarra is NOT in compliance:


☼Workers may not be exposed to unreasonably hazardous, unsafe, or unhealthy conditions.
Giumarra worker Juana Estrada describes an incident where the company was spraying a sulfur-smelling chemical near workers picking grapes: "It turned out that they were spraying, but by then some people were vomiting, others were feeling dizzy or had headaches."

☼The workplace must be free from harassment, which includes sexually coercive, threatening, abusive or exploitative conduct or behavior or harassment because of one's race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation.
EEOC v. Giumarra Vineyards Corporation, et al, Case No. 1:09-cv-02255: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit that Giumarra Vineyards Corporation violated federal law by subjecting a teenage female farm worker to sexual harassment. Further, the EEOC said, the company retaliated against a group of other farm workers who came to her aid at its Edison, Calif., facility. All of the victims identified in the lawsuit are indigenous Indians from Mexico.

☼Workers at all times must be treated fairly with dignity and respect.
Giumarra worker Imelda Valdivia describes the following: "They put fear into the workers and so we force ourselves not to leave for water, because when the boss tells the Supervisor they stop us from working from one to two hours without pay."

☼Wages paid to workers must meet or exceed legal and industry standards.
Class Action Complaint: Current and former employees of Giumarra Vineyards have filed a Federal class action lawsuit alleging that the company requires workers to work off-the-clock and provide their own tools and equipment with no reimbursement. Workers report not being paid for time spent maintaining materials necessary for harvest despite the company's requirement that they do so.
Tell Kroger to demand proof of compliance from Giumarra Vineyards--real proof. It is important that Kroger does not just take the company's word for it in the face of so much litigation and worker testimony. Let them know consumers expect true accountability.
ALALALALAL

THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following letter to Kroger management.

ALALALALAL

Dear Mr. Dillon,

According to the 2010 Sustainability Report featured on Kroger's website, your company expects its vendors to uphold certain standards. Additionally, the report states that these vendors must provide actual proof of their compliance.

I am writing you today to inform you that one of your vendors--The Giumarra Company with its' Nature's Partner label--is not in compliance with your Code of Conduct. Consumers and farm worker supporters nationwide are well aware of Giumarra's reputation as a company with outrageously unfair labor practices. You ought to be aware of the allegations against Giumarra, which include sexual harassment, wage and hour violations, worker exposure to pesticide sprayings, and more.

Because these allegations are so strong and the evidence mounting, you ought to conduct a very thorough investigation into this company's practices and evaluate the Kroger-Giumarra relationship based on your findings. It is not enough to take this company's word for it--workers are speaking out and we hope Kroger is ready to listen.

Sincerely,

HUMOUR:
SHOWING THE COLOURS FOR THE REPUBLICANS:

ANARCHIST BOOKFAIRS:
TWIN CITIES ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:



They're popping up here, there and everywhere; far too many to keep track of. Anarchist Bookfairs have become a favoured method of gathering and exchange between the ever expanding anarchist communities. Here's a new one ( at least I think it's their first ), the 'Twin Cities Anarchist Bookfair' being held on September 11 and 12 in Minneapolis, MN.



Minneapolis is not that far from Winnipeg, 621 km to be exact. The internet says that is 7 hours, 4 minutes driving time. Leadfoot Molly would bet she could make it in 6 easy. The twin cities are actually the closest real city to the dreaded 'Peg'. The even more dreaded Regina is 572 km away, but it takes a certain masochistic impulse to go to Regina for any reason. So, if you're interested Peg People this might actually be a somewhat legitimate excuse to visit Minneapolis and St. Paul. Here's the schedule for the event. Check the website for other details.
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Schedule/Locations
The bookfair will take place at the Powderhorn Park building located at 34th st and 15th ave s., Minneapolis.


Saturday 9/11: Noon-6pm
First Workshop Block: 1-2pm

-EXCO and Anarchist Education

http://www.excotc.org/

Featured Speaker: 2-4pm- Diana Block

Diana Block has been a social justice/feminist activist for forty years. She was a founder of San Francisco Women Against Rape and of the anti-imperialist group Prairie Fire Organizing Committee in the seventies. She spent thirteen years underground in connection with her solidarity activities with the Puerto Rican independence and Black liberation movements, including two years living in Minneapolis. After returning to public life in 1995, she was a founding member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, the Jericho Movement and the San Francisco 8 Defense Committee and continues to be active in prison abolitionist work focused on women and transgender prisoners. In 2009 she published her memoir, *Arm the Spirit – A Woman’s Journey Underground and Back.* She lives in San Francisco with her partner, Claude Marks, and has two children.

She will read excerpts from her book and reflect on her experiences.

Featured Speaker: 4-6pm- Cindy Milstein

Cindy Milstein is a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, and a former teacher at the Institute for Social Ecology. She does grassroots political work at home and public speaking anywhere else, and has long been involved in anarchist projects and social movements. She recently released a book on AK Press, “Anarchism and its Aspirations.”

Other Events:
1pm- Anti-War Committee “End the War on Terror” Protest (Hennepin Ave and Lagoon Ave)

7pm- Diana Block at the Friends Meeting House in St. Paul

Sunday 9/12: 2:30- 8pm
First Workshop Block: 3-4pm

-Anarchism and Fiction

-Money: Where do we go from here? Presented by Tony Hunnicut

A full schedule of workshops and speakers will be posted soon.

Other Events:
2pm- Really Really Free Market- Powderhorn Park (by stage)

HUMOUR:

NEW YORK:

CANADIAN LABOUR BRITISH COLUMBIA:

CHARGES FINALLY LAID TWO YEARS LATER AFTER MUSHROOM FARM DEATHS:

No one can accuse the "justice" system of being in undue haste over this one. Two years after 3 workers were killed and two others injured at an industrial accident on a Langley BC mushroom farm charges against the companies involved and their officers have finally been laid. Here's a statement form the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) on the charges.

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Charges laid in deaths of mushroom farm workers
Two companies and four corporate officials face a total of 29 charges for failure to protect the safety of employees.

Vancouver (1 Sept. 2010) - Charges have finally been laid after two years in the deaths of three mushroom farm workers at a Langley, B.C. mushroom farm. Two others were seriously hurt.

The Crown says the two companies, A-1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd. and H.V. Truong Ltd., are charged as employers, while the four individuals are charged as either directors or officers of the companies or workplaces. They face a total of 29 charges.

The offenses all fall under the province’s worker safety laws and can result in fines of up to $619,721 and six months in jail. The charges allege failure to protect workers from “reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards.”

The workers were overcome by gas in an enclosed space at the mushroom farm and composting plant on Sept. 5, 2008.

Donna Freeman of WorkSafe BC said at the time that it was one of the most complex investigations the agency had conducted, with more than 25 investigators on the file.

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Here's a larger overview of the case from the Vancouver Sun.

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29 charges laid in 2008 mushroom farm deaths
Three men were killed, two suffered brain damage at Langley facility
By Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun August 31, 2010

Relatives of three men who died and two others who were severely disabled in a gas leak two years ago on a Langley mushroom farm are pleased that charges have been laid in the case -- but said even the maximum penalty of six months against the farm operators wouldn't be enough to end the pain caused by the tragedy.

Family members thanked government for proceeding with charges under the Workers' Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, but during brief comments at a news conference broke down as they told of the outrage and loss they continue to endure.

Tracey Phan, a 14-year-old student at Winston Churchill Secondary, said it's heartbreaking for her and her sister to visit their father Michael Phan, who suffered irreversible brain damage and remains in hospital.

'It's hard on us. We don't know if he recognizes us or not. Or if he understands what we are trying to tell him. I would like to get justice back."

A-1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd. and H.V. Troung Ltd., along with four individual employers and supervisors, could face a range of penalties, up to a maximum fine of $619,271 for a first offence and six months in jail.

For Phan and other relatives who spoke, the maximum penalties aren't enough.

"I know that the law says that under that charge six months is the maximum. But I feel that six months is not enough because people that you love will never be given back to you. And six months sitting in that jail cell will never return any of the ones who you loved or cared about."

The charges laid Monday stem from a 20-month investigation by WorkSafeBC into what went wrong at the mushroom composting facility at 23751 16th Avenue in Langley.

"We are pleased that the charges are proceeding," said WorkSafeBC spokeswoman Donna Freeman. "This was a very serious incident in which three people lost their lives, two others were severely injured and the lives of all the family members were changed forever."

Freeman described the agency's probe as the "most complex investigation in WorkSafeBC's history."

Twenty-nine counts have been filed, including several alleging that the companies and their officials failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers and failed to remedy hazardous workplace conditions.

Freeman said the investigation report included tens of thousands of pages of documentation. She said the mushroom composting operation ceased after the accident but that the mushroom farm still operates at the same location.

The probe was delayed initially because of the presence of hazardous materials in the composting operation for seven months following the tragedy, she added.

Ut Tran, Jimmy Chan and Ham Pham died in the incident. Their colleagues, Phan and Thang Tchen, suffered irreversible brain damage after breathing in hydrogen sulphide and ammonia.

In addition to A-1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd. and H.V. Truong Ltd., Ha Qua Truong, Vy Tri Truong, Van Thi Truong and Thinh Huu Doan were charged in the information sworn in Provincial Court in Surrey.

B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair said he hopes the charges will force other farm operations to fix unsafe conditions.

"Perhaps these charges will result in some other employers understanding that unsafe work conditions are not acceptable in B.C.," said Sinclair.

The B.C. Fed president said that inspections on farm sites need to be stiffened to stop fatal accidents before they happen.

"The problem is that people think they can get away with this," he added.

Labour Minister Murray Coell said he hopes the charges in the case will lead to an appropriate resolution, especially for the families of those who died.

"I understand how the families feel. I've met with them," Coell told reporters in Victoria.

"I think what we want to see is to make sure that due process and justice is done and that's best done through the courts," he added. "I think due process is now moving forward."

dward@vancouversun.com with files from Jonathan Fowlie
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/charges+laid+2008+mushroom+farm+deaths/3463095/story.html#ixzz0yKXBogSh

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And here is how the BC Federation of Labour views these charges.

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Long-awaited charges positive news in mushroom farm deaths but questions remain
September 1, 2010
The BC Federation of Labour is welcoming news that charges have finally been laid against two companies and four individuals in the deaths of three workers at a mushroom farm in Langley on September 5, 2008.

"The families of the men who were killed and injured have waited a long time for news that charges have been laid," says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour. "This is a step in the right direction and sends a message to employers that they face potential jail time if they fail to provide safe workplaces."

The owners of the mushroom farm are facing sweeping charges that include failure to provide adequate training, supervision, safety programs, identification of hazards and confined space precautions.

"We hope that justice will be done, but given the fact that three men were killed and two grievously injured, and the sweeping nature of the 29 charges laid by the Crown, we must question why criminal charges were not laid in this case," Sinclair says.

The Federation also questions the length of time it took for the WCB to complete its investigation and the laying of charges.

"It has taken two full years for charges to be laid and it is entirely possible that this case will not go to court for many more months. This is far too long in a situation where lives have been lost and other farmworkers lives could be at risk. These investigations and prosecutions need to be completed faster in order to make workplaces safer."

The Federation is also calling for the release of the WCB investigation report into the mushroom farm incident. The WCB is withholding the report until the prosecution is complete.

"The families of the men killed and injured at this mushroom farm are entitled to see the WCB report. They should not have to wait months or years to find out what happened that day," Sinclair says.

"These charges attest to the fact that too many farmworkers face unsafe working conditions every day in our province," Sinclair added. "We need a full public inquiry into working conditions in the agricultural sector to ensure that farmworkers aren't treated like second class citizens."

For more information: Evan Stewart Director of Communications (604) 430-1421.

HUMOUR:

A DO-GOODERS' WET DREAM:

Eat your broccoli and get 'the help you need". A social worker's dream. A normal person's nightmare.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR INDONESIA:
NESTLE WORKERS STRUGGLE FOR THEIR RIGHTS:


The following struggle for union representation has been going on for three years now, and the Nestlé corporation is unbending in its determination to prevent its Indonesian workers from having independent representation. Here's the story from the international union federation the IUF.
ILILILILIL

No more Nestlies!
Stop Discrimination and Union-busting at Nestlé Indonesia!
Nestlé is determined to stop the SBNIP, the union representing workers at its Indonesian Nescafé factory, from negotiating a collective agreement which includes wages. In response to pressure from the IUF, Nestlé has conceded the union's right to negotiate wages, but now insists that the union must bargain jointly with a 'Communication Forum' (FKBNIP) which the company itself created and supports in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy and membership of the SBNIP. The SBNIP rightly rejects bargaining jointly with a management-sponsored organisation. In April, Nestlé again imposed a unilaterally-determined wage system with no negotiations.

The struggle for basic trade union rights at Nestlé Panjang continues, and the SBNIP needs your support.
ILILILILIL
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to Nestlé management.
ILILILILIL
To Paul Bulcke, CEO
Frits van Dijk, Executive Vice President, Zone AOA

CC Jean-Marc Duvoisin, Executive Vice President, Human Resources
Nigel Isherwood, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources, Zone AOA
Enrique Rueda, Corporate Employee Relations Manager
Arshad Chaudhry, Managing Director, Nestlé Indonesia

Dear Sirs,

Management at the Nescafé factory in Panjang, Indonesia, still denies the right of the SBNIP to negotiate wages through collective bargaining. SBNIP members face discrimination and pressure. I call upon Nestlé to fully respect trade union rights, stop fighting the SBNIP, stop promoting the company union and immediately engage in good faith collective bargaining negotiations with the SBNIP as the representative of the Panjang workers for collective bargaining.

Yours sincerely,