Texas Labor Against the War

“We are sitting on the porch at 11PM and a thunderstorm has just broken through the desert’s heat. ‘It’s a little crazy what we are doing here,’ Sergio reflects and then breaks into his loud boisterous laugh that is drowned out by the sounds of the first beating raindrops in over a month…” [Read more of this blog post.]

Sergio is part of the five member Operation Recovery Team who has been deployed for the past five weeks at Fort Hood, reaching out to service members and veterans about their right to heal.

What we are doing is not easy.

Killeen, Texas, home to Fort Hood is a lonely, desolate, and dry place, dominated by the military base.

We are a team of just five, former soldiers talking to current soldiers about war trauma — a taboo subject — on the largest U.S. military installation, home to approximately 50,000 troops and their families.

We could use your help.  A donation today will support the Operation Recovery Team to continue outreach efforts at Fort Hood throughout the rest of the hot Texas summer.  Right now, we don’t have the funds to continue past this month.  Your financial support will pay for our modest stipends, outreach materials, and our living expenses as we continue the daunting and arduous work of organizing active duty troops at Fort Hood.

Will you support us with a donation today? Any amount will help.  Click here to give

We call on all supporters of workers’ rights who are available Monday afternoon to come out in support of our sisters and brothers who work for the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority.  The Cap Metro Board and the Texas Legislature are illegally trying to take away the union’s rights and the workers’ pay and benefits.  Cap Metro is trying to “lower labor costs”–which means making up for its financial mismanagement on the backs of its workers

May is a busy month at Under the Hood.   Iraq Veterans Against the War headed to UTH this month, as part of its Operation Recovery Campaign, in its continued effort to stop the deployment of troops suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Military Sexual Trauma .  IVAW has requested a meeting with General Don Campbell.  Read IVAW’s letter to General Campbell here.   IVAW has not yet received a response, but their efforts to reach the General is only the beginning of the work they plan to do while in Fort Hood.  IVAW’s organizing team will work for several months to outreach to soldiers, build their case against the military’s egregious practices, conduct town hall meetings, and pressure Fort Hood’s new General to do the right thing 

 

Regina Vasquez brings her  Fatigues Clothesline to UTH.  This 8 week series beginning May 15th, from 5-7 pm, is for women only.  To find out more, you can reach Regina at [email protected].

 

Join us on Memorial Day as we celebrate Kyle Wesolowski’s release from the army!  As we told you in our March issue,  Kyle’s Conscientious Objector claim was approved by the U.S. Army.  Since he was notified of his CO status, Kyle has been on terminal leave.  After months of patiently waiting, Kyle will officially be out of the military by Memorial Day! 

 

Here are the details:

What: Under the Hood BBQ and get-together  

When: Monday, May 30th, starting at 2:00 p.m.

Where: Under the Hood Cafe & Outreach Center, 17 College Street, Killeen Texas

 

A $10 suggested donation is requested to cover the cost of food, however, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  GIs are welcome to join us free of charge.

Meet new friends and get together with old ones.  We look forward to seeing you on the 30th!

 

The Fort Hood Support Network, sponsor of Under the Hood, is very pleased to receive a 2011 grant from RESIST, an organization that has funded forty years of social change.  The “Hell Yes!” Grant was awarded for leadership in the movement for social justice on April 3, 2011.  RESIST says, “The ‘Hell Yes!’ Grant honors the spirit of resistance to illegitimate authority and is awarded to groups that embody the moral clarity, courage and political commitment to challenge the forces that drive toward war and place profits over people.”  The Fort Hood Support Network board member and treasurer says: “We are honored to be a ‘Hell Yes!’ grant recipient.”  

 

Your continued support of Under the Hood allows us to continue our important work in Killeen. Whether you are making a one-time donation or want to sign up as a sustainer, it’s easy to contribute through PayPal.  

 

The Fort Hood Support Network (FHSN) operates Under the Hood Café and Outreach Center.  FHSN is a Texas non-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.  Donations may be treated as tax-deductible.  

Interested in sharing some of your time and talents with Under the Hood?   We are always happy for support in any form.  Along with monetary support to keep our doors open, we can always use other forms of assistance.  If you believe that you can provide support in some way, please feel free to contact us.  We’d be happy to put you to work!

 

 Check out the  ResiStore!   Now you can purchase great items and support Under the Hood at the same time. Check it out here.

  

Under the Hood Update is on Facebook.  Become a fan!  You can find archived issues and connect with other fans of Under the Hood.  Visit our Facebook page by clicking here.

 

Past issues of Under the Hood Update are now on the Under the Hood website!

If you’ve missed any of our past issues, or if you just want to re-read past articles, please click here.

P.O Box 16174 | Austin, TX  78761

 

MARCH FOR IMMIGRANTS AND WORKING FAMILIES

STAND UP FOR JUSTICE!  STOP THE ATTACKS AGAINST ALL TEXAS WORKING FAMILIES AND IMMIGRANTS!

View the event information in Spanish

When: 2:00 PM, Sunday May 1
Where: Start @ corner of Bellaire & Renwick. Go east on Bellaire, north on Chimney Rock, & west on Gulfton to Burnett Bayland Park. Distance is 1.5 mi.

Bring: walking shoes, sun hat, drinking water &, if you wish, signs.

More information (from Houston Peace and Justice Center): http://www.hpjc.org/node/196

and from Houston United (Houston Unido): http://www.houstonunido.org/

“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)

Saturday, April 9

March and Rally:
END THE WARS ! FUND THE PEOPLE !

Gather for march at Noon at the Federal Building plaza (300 E. 8th St.)
Rally at the Capitol at 1:00 PM

While the US is engaging in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and giving billions of dollars in aid to Israel, which continues to threaten the Palestinians, we are left with Governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker Texas’ Rick Perry, who want to strip us of our labor rights, lay off teachers, close our schools, and deny us health care.  Meanwhile, big corporations pollute our environment, make record profits, and pay low or no taxes.  These priorities are upside down!  Come to a rally to demand an end to the wars abroad and a re-direction of funding to basic services for the people: education, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs, clean air and water.

Sponsored by: Iraq Veterans Against the War-Austin, Veterans for Peace-Austin, Sustainable Options for Youth, Under the Hood Cafe, Palestine Solidarity Committee, CodePink-Austin, International Socialist Organization, Nuke Free Texas, and more.  For more information or to co-sponsor: [email protected]

see also United National Antiwar Committee, http://www.nationalpeaceconference.org/

Building on the spirit  and energy of rallies around the country calling on state governments to prioritize education, health care, public safety, the environment, and jobs, we will demand that Texas take a balanced approach to balancing the state budget by spending our state’s savings in the Rainy Day Fund and finding new revenue.  Be part of the movement to move Texas forward!  Bring your family and friends and wear your rain gear!  There’s a torrential storm in Texas and together we have  the power to turn the tides!http://www.april62011.org/

 SCHEDULE

9am – 10am Buses arriving, lobby day training and staging for the march
11am – 12pm  March from Waterloo Park (13th & Trinity) to the Capitol
NOON Rally on the South Steps
1pm – 4pm Lobby Visits and Workshops
4pm Buses leave
5pm Day ends officially