Texas Labor Against the War

Bring back the WPA!  Bring back the CCC!  Fight racism!  Tax the rich!  Texas Labor Against the War can get with all of this.  But also: END THE WARS AND OCCUPATIONS–WE NEED THE MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION.

(By Gene Lantz, reprinted from Labor Dallas, 08-31-11, http://www.labordallas.org/jobz090211.htm)

America Grapples for Solution to the Jobs Crisis

Help for the jobless must continue, but real solutions are even more important. As North Texas Jobs with Justice prepares for our monthly jobs vigil (11:30 AM Friday, September 2, 525 Griffin at Young in downtown Dallas) we review some of the proposals now floating around.

A new bill in Congress

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) wants to bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps. Similar ideas have been put forward by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and by Professor William “Sandy” Darity, whose expertise is public policy, African American studies and economics. Darity’s proposal specifically calls for a new and permanent CCC providing jobs at $20,000/year salary plus $10,000/year benefits.

Don’t waste any time

Kaptur explains her bill in a New York Times editorial where she says that the original CCC was up and running, and providing almost 300,000 new jobs, in three months! She also says, “Every dollar of investment in bricks, mortar, infrastructure and environment returns $1.59 to the economy. This is six times more “bang for the buck” than tax credits and other arcane policy options whose economic impact drain through the economy and yield only 30 cents for every dollar expended.”

Kaptur’s bill is styled HR 494 and is listed on-line.

Other bills worth supporting

Representatives John Conyers and Jan Schakowskfy have also put forward bills that are gaining support. Hers, the “Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act,” would create 2 million jobs fully paid for through separate legislation that “creates higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, eliminates subsidies for Big Oil, and loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.” Conyers bill reaches for more jobs and also addresses the racist aspects of the jobs crisis. “Official” rates of unemployment are much higher for African Americans and Latinos. None of the proposals would create enough government-sponsored jobs to replace the 8 million lost in the last crisis, let alone the 3 million more that have become necessary since then, but all of them would help.

Bring back the WPA

Rather than focusing on one special proposal, the simple slogan “Bring back the WPA” will probably mobilize the most people. The Works Progress Administration, which focused on public works projects, employed about 8.5 million people from 1935 to 1943, while the CCC gave jobs to 2.5 million unskilled workers. Government-created public works jobs are the only possible solution in the short run. In the long run, reductions in working hours are an absolute necessity. T-shirts like the one shown are available at http://www.printfection.com/BringBackTheWPA.

The “Big Lie” is being used against us

Politicians use the old Nazi “big lie” technique (repetition) to try to convince Americans that “government cannot create jobs,” even though it’s clear they are lying. The government did in fact create millions of jobs to alleviate the last jobs crisis. Some North Texas congressmen, in recent “town hall” meetings, actually repeated this odious lie! On my Monday radio show on KNON, a caller clarified it all when he said, “If government can’t create jobs, Congressman, then you ought to give back your paycheck, because government sure as heck created YOUR job!”

We’re waiting for the President

President Obama is expected to announce a jobs proposal soon. The AFL-CIO, Jobs with Justice, and a long list of at least 70 progressive organizations are organizing a letter to encourage him to come up with a meaningful proposal. The letter is available on-line. The AFL-CIO’s proposal for a tiny “transaction tax” on Wall Street speculations would provide billions for the jobless.

It’s a campaign issue

Proposals for resolving the jobs crisis must be the crux of the coming election campaign. President Obama’s plan may put him over the top, or it may drag him backward. The leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, Texan Rick Perry, has already made his concern clear by flambuoyantly rejecting $555 million in federal funds for the jobless. Mitt Romney wants to raise the retirement age, which would make it even harder for younger workers to find jobs.

What will happen if you don’t take action?

nothing

What if you do?

None of the accomplishments of working people ever happened until they mobilized in public action. There are petitions to sign; vigils, pickets, and rallies to attend, and electoral work just waiting for us to grab them and make them work for us. On this site, we list as many of these opportunities as possible. Please get with us!

Join and/or donate to North Texas Jobs with Justice

“I could celebrate a plan that would redirect our country towards seeking out the causes of violence, so that we will not again come to the place where our nation devotes a trillion dollars and thousands of lives in order to terminate one man’s life,” said DPC board member Rev. Diane Baker. “I pray that instead we could imagine using a trillion dollars to enrich the lives of our own citizens, and the lives of billions of our neighbors with whom we share the planet.”

DALLAS PEACE CENTER HOPES BIN LADEN DEATH IS TURNING POINT
Press release, May 2, 2011, http://www.dallaspeacecenter.org/?id=1

On May 1, President Barack Obama announced was made that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a military operation.  He declared that “justice has been served.”  If this is so, then we need to reflect on the price of that justice, and our opportunities for going forward. The death of Osama Bin Laden should be used as a turning point at which we can put away our instruments of war in Afghanistan and use diplomacy to further address concerns and grievances.
  
As peacemakers, we deplore all violence in all of its forms. Even though we understand why it was necessary to apprehend Osama bin Laden, and stop the violence he was inflicting, we do not see this as a moment of celebration.

“If the US is acting on its own form of justice through the use of violence, without the rule of law and a due process, then how is this going to stop people in other parts of the world from doing the same thing,” asks DPC President of the Board Dalia Abdelhady. “We need justice for all, including our enemies.”

Because of America’s rush to war, more than 7,000 American and coalition soldiers, along with tens of thousands of Afghani and Pakistanis, are dead. The only way to change our mourning to joy is to learn from this terrible chapter in our history.

With less than 125 Al Qaeda operatives left in Afghanistan, according to government sources, and the death of the Al Qaeda leader, now is the time to re-think US strategy in Afghanistan by encouraging our congressional members to accelerate the drawdown of U.S. troops and bring the war to an end.

“I could celebrate a plan that would redirect our country towards seeking out the causes of violence, so that we will not again come to the place where our nation devotes a trillion dollars and thousands of lives in order to terminate one man’s life,” said DPC board member Rev. Diane Baker. “I pray that instead we could imagine using a trillion dollars to enrich the lives of our own citizens, and the lives of billions of our neighbors with whom we share the planet.”

Part of this enrichment should surely be the education of our populace on peaceful conflict resolution. Although nothing excuses acts of terror, in order to achieve a comprehensive defense against terrorism our country must stop celebrating our kill, and assess our own role in growing terrorists.

Istanbul--200,000 rally at Taksim Square (photo Reuters-Stringer)

 May 1, 2011, Istanbul, Turkey–200,000 people march.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin–100,000.  These were among the largest events in the world on May Day, International Workers Day–or simply Labor Day for most of the world, El Dia del Trabajo. 

 Born in the U.S. in 1886 in the struggle for the 8-hour day, May Day was associated with anarchists, socialists, and communists, so the U.S. government undermined it with the establishment of a new and innocuous “Labor Day” holiday in September.  Kept barely alive by a few leftists, May Day was brought back to the U.S. in a big way by immigrants in 2006 and became a big day for the expression of immigrant issues and the demand for immigrant rights.  As U.S. workers tried to reclaim our holiday,

Milwaukee (photo Tom Lynn, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

 consciousness grew about the need for solidarity with workers all over the world, and more U.S. workers joined with immigrants in the celebration of this holiday.  The biggest expression of this unity in 2011 was in Wisconsin. 

Some of the issues around the world:  More jobs, union rights, better working conditions, higher wages to counter higher prices for food and fuel; migrant worker rights; an end to the growing income gap between rich and poor; democratic political rights and an end to autocratic governments; an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ciudad Monte, Tamaulipas, Mexico--workers remember the "martyrs of Chicago" along with their own fallen comrades (noticiaselmexicano.com) Dhaka, Bangladesh (photo Pavel Rahman-AP)

Beirut, Lebanon (photo Migrant Workers Task Force)

Ankara, Turkey (photo Umit Bektas-Reuters)

Manila, Philippines--workers demand immediate wage increase, burn President Benigno Aquino III in effigy (photo Aaron Favila-AP)Jakarta, Indonesia (photo Irwin Fedriansyah-AP)

Hyderabad--All India Trade Union Congress (photo Mahesh Kumar A.-AP)

Mumbai--Striking Air India pilots (photo Vivek Prakash-Reuters)

Katmandu--Supporters of CP (Maoist) and activists of Nepal Trade Union (photo Binod Joshi-AP)

Baghdad--Members of the Iraqi Communist Party (photo Khalid Mohammed-AP)

Basra (Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq--uslaboragainstwar.org)

Cairo, Egypt--May Day in Tahrir Square (photo Khalil Hamra-AP)

Lahore, Pakistan--Union workers rally (photo K.M. Chaudary-AP)

Madrid, Spain (photo Arturo Rodriguez-AP)

Moscow, Russia--members of the Left Front (photo Ivan Sekretarev-AP)

Lisbon, Portugal--Against the IMF, for Leftist Unity (photo Armando Franca-AP)

Caracas, Venezuela (photo Ariana Cubillos-AP)

Havana, Cuba--Students in Revolution Square (photo Enrique de la Osa-Reuters)

Mexico City--Workers protesting labor law "reform" burn image of Labor Secretary Javier Lozano (photo Marco Ugarte-AP)

Houston (thefirecollective.org)

Houston (thefirecollective.org)

Dallas (labordallas.org)

San Antonio (blogs.sacurrent.com)

Atlanta, GA--Protesters urge Gov. Nathan Deal to veto anti-immigrant legislation (photo Rich Addicks-AP)

New York--rally for jobs and immigrant rights (photo Seth Wenig-AP)

Los Angeles, California (photo L.A. County Federation of Labor)

Milwaukee--Voces de la Frontera has been organizing big May Day marches since 2006 (photo Tom Lynn-Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Milwaukee--This says it all (photo Tom Lynn-Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

“THEY SAY ‘CUT BACK’!  WE SAY ‘FIGHT BACK’!”

We reprint Will Rogers’ report from Left Labor Reporter about the terrific, union-led Save Our State march and rally on April 6.  http://leftlaborreporter.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/spirit-of-wisconsin-alive-in-texas/

Judy Lugo speaks (photo Rene Renteria)

“Texas has won the race to the bottom,” said Texas State Employees Union president Judy Lugo. “But Gov. Rick Perry and Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives want to keep racing.” Lugo was speaking to a crowd of 7,000 Texans chanting, “no cuts” at a rally on the steps of the state capitol to protest the $23 billion cuts to the state’s budget that passed out of the state House of Representative last week.

“Right now, Texas ranks last among states in the number of children with health insurance, 44th in high school graduation rates, 49th in per capita spending on Medicaid, and 50th in per capita tax expenditures,” Lugo said. “These vital services that working people rely on will get much worse if the proposed budget cuts go through.”

photo Alberto Martinez, Austin American Statesman

Last week, the state house voted to adopt HB 1, which seeks to close the state’s $23 billion budget deficits solely by cutting state services. If these cuts become law, they could do irreparable harm to working class Texans.  A recent study by the state’s Legislative Budget Board found that the proposed cuts will eliminate 335,000 jobs and reduce personal income by more than $17 billion. State Senator Kirk Watson speaking at the rally said that the proposed budget cuts are “an evolving catastrophe.”

Scott Chase, president of the South Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, which represents small businesses in this South Dallas community, told the crowd that the proposed budget cuts are “bad for business,” which is why his group was the first Chamber of Commerce in the state call on legislators to take a balanced approach to closing the budget gap rather than relying solely on cuts. Chase urged lawmakers to use all of the state’s $9 billion Rainy Day fund to help close the budget gap.

HB 1 would reduce funding for public education by $4.7 billion, resulting in mass layoffs for teachers and other education workers and increased class sizes. “We don’t want our children packed into overcrowded classrooms and we don’t want our state’s economy undermined by pink slips for our teachers and public employees,” Watson said.        

photo Rene Renteria

HB 1 would also reduce funding for the states health and human service agencies by $10.8 billion. Medicaid will bear the brunt of these cuts. HB 1 cuts $4.7 billion from the Medicaid budget and is $13.7 billion shy of the amount requested by the state Health and Human Services Commission to fund projected growth in the Medicaid caseload.

“We’re already getting calls from hospitals telling us that nursing homes won’t take back patients that they sent to the hospitals because the nursing homes don’t think that there will be enough Medicaid to take care of their patients because of the budget cuts,” said Dalia Martinez, a TSEU member in the audience who works at the Department of Family Protective Services’ Statewide Intake Center, a hotline for reports of abuse to the elderly and children.

photo Rene Renteria

The rally against the budget cuts was organized by TSEU and Texas Forward, a coalition of 50 organizations that advocate for better public services. The rally drew a wide range of working-class people. Community organizations like the Texas Organizing Project, a grassroots community group of low- and moderate-income people with 10,000 members in cities all over the state, and Rio Grande Valley Interfaith, COPS of San Antonio, TMO of Houston, and Austin Interfaith, all of which are Industrial Area Foundation groups, sent large contingents.

CWA telephone workers (photo Rene Renteria)

Union members  from all over the state and from a wide variety of industries were the backbone of the rally.  About a dozen telephone locals of the Communication Workers of America sent members to support their sister public sector union, TSEU. Speaking for the CWA, Richard Kneupper, assistant to the vice-president for District 6 told the state workers and teachers in the audience that “the work you do is important; without public workers, Texas doesn’t work.”

Teamster Local 749 in Dallas filled six bus loads of people to come to rally. Unions representing steelworkers, autoworkers, machinists, sheet metal workers, bus drivers, railroad workers, and many other private sector

photo Rene Renteria

unions sent large contingents of members to support Texas’ public workers. There were also members from AFSCME and the teachers’ unions on hand to offer their support.

Speaking for the labor movement, Becky Moeller, president of the state AFL-CIO  said, “When I have a hole in my roof, I don’t  burn off the roof to fix the hole; that’s what HB 1 does. HB 1 will throw people out of nursing homes; it will make it harder for people to get health care; it will cause people to get sick and die. It will also cause hundreds of thousands of hard-working Texans to lose their jobs, and to keep running, the machinery of Texas depends on jobs. We in the labor movement will do everything we can for as long as it take to defeat HB 1.We’re united like never before. WE ARE ONE.”

AFSCME and more (photo Bob Daemrich, Texas Tribune)

TSEU leads the march (photo Rene Renteria)

photo Rene Renteria

Solution to the money problem! (photo Rene Renteria)

TSEU Legislative Director Derrick Osobase (photo Rene Renteria)

Monday, April 4, 5:30 PM,  Downtown Dallas, City Hall, Young & Ervay.

Anniversary of death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting striking sanitation workers.  North Texas Jobs with Justice.   http://www.labordallas.org/

Rally for workers and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, The Dallas sanitation workers will be there in remembrance of the “I Am A Man” struggle in Memphis in 1968. Contact Kenneth Stretcher ([email protected]).

Rally to stop Wasting America’s Resources marks 8 years of war in Iraq

March 19th will mark the 8th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and in 2011 the U.S. military will have spent $1 trillion dollars for war and occupations. Meanwhile, 30 million people in the United States remain unemployed or severely underemployed, and cuts in education, housing and health care are imposing huge burdens on people who can least afford them.

On March 19, concerned north Texans will gather to call on the U.S. government to:

• End the wars and occupations and bring the troops home now
• Stand for civil rights and human dignity at home and abroad
• Fund jobs, health care, education and human needs, not the war

Participants will meet at Mockingbird Station, east of I-75, and will proceed to the rallying spot at Potomac Park, at Airline Rd. and E. Potomac Ave. where speakers will discuss the misappropriation of America’s resources and what we can do about it.

When:   Saturday, March 19

11:00 a.m. – Meet at Mockingbird Station to march to Potomac Park

Noon-1:30 p.m. – Rally at Potomac Park

Where:  Potomac Park, Airline Rd. @ E. Potomac Ave. (behind La Madeleine)

Sponsored by Dallas Peace Center, Code Pink

http://dallaspeacecenter.org/modules/content/index.php?id=1

A Time of Remembrance:
Candlelight Vigil in Remembrance of the Lives Lost in the Iraq War

The U.S invasion of Iraq on March 19 2003 was one of the most tragic days in recent history. A country that posed no threat to the United States was turned into rubble in a massive bombing campaign not witnessed since WW II. The invasion took the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, made several million people homeless, and devastated the lives of tens of thousands of United States military personnel and their families.

The Dallas Peace Center invites you to remember the lives of those who have become the casualty of this unjust war at a Candlelight Vigil at the Bath House Cultural Center on the shores of beautiful White Rock Lake, 6 PM Friday March 18.

Some candles will be provided but you may bring your own candle and paper glass to protect from wind.
Some of the names of those who died, Iraqi and American, will be read.

Please invite family and friends.

What: Candlelight Vigil to Honor Casualties of U.S Invasion of Iraq.

Where; Bath House Cultural Center: 521 E. Lawther Drive Dallas TX 75218 
When: 6 PM Friday March 18- 6-8 PM.

Contact: Dallas Peace Center; 214-823-7793
http://dallaspeacecenter.org/modules/content/index.php?id=1

Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Earle Cabell Federal Building, 1100 Commerce St (downtown Dallas)

In December 2010, under the direction of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the FBI delivered nine new subpoenas in Chicago to anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists. Patrick Fitzgerald’s office is ordering the nine to appear at a Grand Jury in Chicago on January 25.

In response we are calling for protests on Jan. 25 across the country and around the world to show our solidarity

Across the country organizations and individuals are standing together to protest the United States government’s attempt to silence and criminalize anti-war and international solidarity activists. We see the raids and subpoenas as an attack on anti-war and other progressive movements. It is an attack on our freedom to speak, our freedom to assemble with like-minded people, and our freedom to tell the government that their actions and policies are wrong. It is an attempt to clear the way for more wars and occupations of other countries by the U.S. military.

We Demand:
**Stop the repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
**Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc
**End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.

http://www.stopfbi.net/take-action/2010/12/31/jan-25-take-action-protest-fbi-and-grand-jury-repression

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=190701867611009

Here are just a few of the events going on in various cities around Texas for the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.  San Antonio boasts one of the largest–if not the largest–MLK Day parades in the U.S.

AUSTIN:  March and Festival

HOUSTON:

MLK Youth Parade
This parade starts noon Saturday at Minute Maid Park, proceeds west down Texas to Caroline, then south on Caroline to Walker, west on Walker to San Jacinto and, finally, north on San Jacinto to Prairie.

MLK Grande Parade
Kick off MLK Day and get downtown early for a chance to preview the floats and bands from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday. The parade starts at 2 p.m. at Allen Parkway and Sabine. The route runs east to Dallas, down Dallas to Bagby, Bagby to Lamar, then Lamar back to Allen Parkway where it ends at Taft.

Black Heritage Society Parade
The 33rd Annual “Original” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade starts 10 a.m. Monday at Minute Maid Park. The route proceeds west down Texas to Caroline, then south on Caroline to Polk, west on Polk to San Jacinto and north on San Jacinto to Prairie.

MLK Day Peace Rally
State Representative Garnet Coleman and Gardere Oratory Speech Winner will speak to kick off the Children’s Museum of Houston peace rally on Monday at 12 p.m. Kids can then march through museum in celebration of freedom of speech. Exhibits on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life will be open.

Battle of the Bands
More than 20 high school bands battle it out beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday at Joe Kelly Butler Stadium, 13755 S. Main.

http://blogs.chron.com/momhouston/2011/01/where_to_find_a_martin_luther_1.html

SAN ANTONIO:

Each year, a variety of educational, inspirational and celebratory events honor one of the nation’s most revered civil rights leaders. The signature event, the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. March, is scheduled for Monday, January 17, 2011. The march will begin at 10 a.m. at the MLK Academy located in the 3500 block of MLK Drive and end at Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1101 Iowa (click this link for march route and info). Once again, it is expected to draw more than 100,000 adults and children. San Antonio hosts one of the largest marches in the United States.

The MLK Commission organizes the march and leads the community effort of various events paying tribute to Dr. King. The wide variety of educational, inspirational and celebratory events, take place at locations across the city.

Dr. King’s Dream: For One, For All

Will be the focus of the 2011 MLK Commemoration. Improving the quality of our youth’s education is very important to the MLK Commission.

If you would like to support the MLK March, annual MLK scholarships, or any of events that will take place, the MLK Commission welcomes the partnership of local and national businesses. Please contact the City of San Antonio MLK Commission staff by email.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/mlk/