May Day! Immigrant Rally in Medford, OR

UNETE, 27.04.2007 09:23

Join "THE PEOPLE UNITED" March And Let Our Voices Be Heard!!

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Alba Park (in front of post office in Medford

Here for an earlier story which highlights Longshore Workers support for national May Day actions for immigrant & worker rights  http://rogueimc.org/en/2007/03/8164.shtml

For Mayday in Medford one UNETE organizer said there are plans for a "Where's Walden" sequel, a march to Congressman Greg Walden's Medford office. (The District 2 Congressman from Oregon has a long history of ignoring his constituents unless they are corporate cronies)

May Day 2006 Medford March

Say YES to comprehensive immigration reform!!

Support the dreams of 11 million immigrants!!

Only when people UNITE do they gain respect

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Dress in White 30.04.2007 - 10:05 The theme color is white, representing peace, I suspect. marcher> May Day Greetings 30.04.2007 - 13:29 From: "Freedom Socialist Party" Date: April 30, 2007 2:12:27 PM PDT Subject: May Day Greetings Happy May Day, 2007! On this workingclass holiday we celebrate our sisters and brothers everywhere who are struggling to wrest control of the world's resources from the exploitation and destruction of capitalism. May Day was born out of heroic 19th century demands to reduce the working day to eight hours. Its spirit of resistance thrives today in demonstrations by millions of immigrants demanding open borders and amnesty, in blockades by Guatemalan teachers opposing neo-liberal privatization of public schools, and in wildcat strikes by women garment workers in Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Vietnam to improve their low pay and wretched conditions. Costa Rican workers further the tradition by tenaciously keeping their government from ratifying CAFTA, the ruinous "free trade" Agreement. Salutations to the brave people of Iraq and Palestine who continue, against overwhelming force, to resolutely oppose U.S. and Israeli occupation, and to the growing numbers of U.S. and Israeli soldiers who refuse to fight immoral wars for the enrichment of giant corporations and the furtherance of imperialism. Our antagonists are ever more ruthless but this is a sign of their weakness, not their strength. A world without borders and a socialist society based on freedom, equality, and preservation of the planet itself are attainable. Together, we shall prevail! ¡Venceremos! ___________________________________________________________ Freedom Socialist Party U.S. Section 4710 University Way NE, #100 Seattle, WA 98105 USA Australian Section PO Box 2066 Brunswick, VIC 3055 Australia ___________________________________________________________ To subscribe to the Freedom Socialist newspaper, or see the booklist at Red Letter Press, or to find out more about the Freedom Socialist Party, go to  http://www.socialism.com, or reply to this message. We would love to hear from you! "Freedom Socialist Party"> All out on May Day! Support immigrant rights 30.04.2007 - 16:31 Longshore workers say: All out on May Day! Support immigrant rights By Judy Greenspan San Francisco Published Apr 8, 2007 8:05 PM Longshore workers on the West Coast have passed a resolution supporting national May Day actions for immigrant and workers’ rights. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) took solidarity a step further by announcing a work stoppage in major West Coast ports on May 1 to support and participate in the “Great American Boycott II.” This year, longshore workers will stop all work in the California ports of Oakland, San Francisco, Richmond, Benicia and Redwood City, as well as in Seattle, Wash. Locally, the ILWU Local 10 Drill Team will perform at the May Day protest. According to Clarence Thomas, past secretary-treasurer of Local 10 and coordinator of its Saving Lives Campaign, who spoke with this reporter, “Last year, we not only supported all of the demands of the immigrant workers’ movement but we fought for the defense of longshore jobs against a similar right-wing attack.” Last year, with the passage and implementation of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, under the guise of “national security” veteran longshore workers found themselves being questioned about past felony convictions, medical and mental health conditions and political affiliations. The union was able to remove some of the worst elements of the government witchhunt from the Maritime Act. However, longshore workers still have to face scrutiny from Homeland Security before being issued a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), which is needed now to work on the docks. “We strongly oppose the criminalization of immigrant workers and see the similarity with government attempts to criminalize our union members,” Thomas added. The resolution passed by ILWU Local 10 in San Francisco and ILWU Local 19 in Seattle reads: WHEREAS, Local 10 adopted a resolution for our April 2005 Longshore Caucus reclaiming May Day (May 1st) which commemorates the struggle for the 8 (eight) hour work day in the United States; WHEREAS, Local 10 endorsed May 1st, 2006, and participated in the Great American Boycott to protest the criminalization of immigrant workers by legislation such as HR4437 and the Marine Transportation Security Acts criminal background checks on dock workers; WHEREAS, On May 1st, 2006, 90 percent of the container cargo at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was halted as the result of immigrant truckers not going to work; WHEREAS, Agribusinesses such as Tyson Foods and Cargill closed down several of their plants in anticipation of immigrant workers not going to work on May 1, 2006, in support of immigrant rights; WHEREAS, Our own Harry Bridges, an Australian immigrant worker, faced four prosecutions by the U.S. government, was wrongfully convicted, illegally imprisoned, fraudulently stripped of his citizenship, and his attorneys sent to jail for defending him; WHEREAS, ILWU in 2008, will start very difficult contract negotiations with the employer which requires we start to mobilize our members and build coalitions; and WHEREAS, Hornblower Cruises has yet to hire skilled and experienced ILWU and other union ferry workers as well as to negotiate a fair contract; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the membership instruct Local 10’s president to convey our intentions of having our stop work meeting on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007, at 9 a.m. to Pacific Maritime Association; THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Local 10 participates in the Great American Boycott II, in support of workers and immigrant rights, including the workers of Hornblower Cruises, on May Day, 2007, and that the ILWU Local 10 Drill Team perform; and THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be sent to all ILWU locals, the International, and affiliated central labor councils. The longshore workers have a long history of support and involvement in working class and progressive struggles. “Our seven decades of ILWU militant unionism shows that we understand the significance of international labor solidarity,” Thomas said. He pointed out that the ILWU emerged out of the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. It was the first union to oppose U.S. intervention in Vietnam in 1964. The longshore workers took a strong stand against apartheid and refused to handle South African cargo in the 1970s and 1980s. It also refused to load bomb parts or military cargo destined for Chile and El Salvador during that time. “The ILWU was founded by Harry Bridges, an immigrant worker from Australia, who was hounded by the U.S. government because of his militant trade unionism and political beliefs,” Thomas explained. “We will always continue to embrace the aspirations of all workers, organized or unorganized,” the union leader said. “We have the same mandate as the immigrant workers’ movement and we will march side by side on May Day,” Thomas added. Besides being a leader of the ILWU, Thomas is also national co-chair of the Million Worker Movement. As coordinator of the ILWU’s Saving Lives Campaign, Thomas leads union efforts to reduce diesel fuel emissions at 29 ports on the West Coast. Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011 Email:  ww@workers.org Subscribe  wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net Support independent news  http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php Longshore workers via Workers World> Action Alert: Comment on REAL ID before May 8 01.05.2007 - 10:01 Dear Friends, On Tuesday, May 8 public comments are due on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) proposed rulemaking for the REAL ID Act. The DHS wants to establish minimum standards for State-issued driver's licenses and identification cards that Federal agencies would accept for official purposes after May 11, 2008. It is critical that people comment on this rulemaking so we go on the record opposing REAL ID. Concerns about REAL ID include: ** increased threat of counterfeiting and identity theft, ** lack of security to protect against unauthorized access to the document's machine readable content, ** increased cost to taxpayers, ** diverting of state funds intended for homeland security, ** increased costs for obtaining a license or state issued ID card, and ** because the REAL ID would create a false belief that it is secure and unforgeable. Below is information on how to submit comments and websites to go to for talking points. Also, don't miss the opportunity to modify and send out the press release (below) in your community! Thanks for being part of this movement to overturn the REAL ID Act! Hope Hope Marston Bill of Rights Defense Committee West Region Organizer  hmarston@bordc.org  http://bordc.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Public Comments:* All comments must be received by until 5:00 PM EST on May 8, 2007. Please submit comments under Docket No. 2006-0030 to the Department of Homeland Security: Postal Department of Homeland Security Attn: NAC 1-12037 Washington, DC 20528 Online: Through the public submission portal at:  http://www.regulations.gov Or use one of the more user-friendly sites found at the following web addresses: EFF:  https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr007=jursz5zko3.app13b&cm d=display&page=UserAction&id=287 Privacy Activism  http://stoprealid.privacyactivism.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_ filing_comments To Fax Comments to the Department of Homeland Security: Electronic Frontier Foundation:  http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=287, Privacy Coalition  http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/sampletext.html or send a letter to the agency at Fax 1-866-466-5370. _________________________________________________________________ *Press Release:* Date May 1, 2007 Media Contact [____________] Phone [___-____-_____] Over 40 Groups Announce Anti-National REAL ID Public Comment Campaign [City]-Today Forty-three organizations representing transpartisan, nonpartisan, privacy, consumer, civil liberty, civil rights, and immigrant organizations have joined to launch a national campaign to solicit public comments to stop the nation's first national ID system-REAL ID. The groups joining in the anti-REAL ID campaign are concerned about the increased threat of counterfeiting and identity theft, lack of security to protect against unauthorized access to the document's machine readable content, increased cost to taxpayers, diverting of state funds intended for homeland security, increased costs for obtaining a license or state issued ID card, and because the REAL ID would create a false belief that it is secure and unforgeable. This effort builds on the momentum that is signaling broad opposition to the REAL ID in the states. Montana has become the fifth state, following Maine, Idaho, Arkansas, and Washington, to prohibit cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security in implementing the REAL ID national identification system. Under the Act, states and federal government would share access to a vast national database that could include images of birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, court ordered separations, medical records, and detailed information on the name, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, address, telephone, e-mail address, Social Security Number for more than 240 million with no requirements or controls on how this database might be used. Many may not have the documents required to obtain a REAL ID, or they may face added requirements base on arbitrary decisions made by DMV employees. The draft regulations to implement the REAL ID Act are open for comment until 5 p.m. EST on May 8, 2007. To take action, submit comments against the fundamentally flawed national identification scheme, under Docket No. 2006-0030. Online: Through the public submission portal at:  http://www.regulations.gov Or use one of the more user-friendly sites found at the following web addresses: EFF:  https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr007=jursz5zko3.app13b&cm d=display&page=UserAction&id=287 Privacy Activism  http://stoprealid.privacyactivism.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_ filing_comments To Fax Comments to the Department of Homeland Security: Electronic Frontier Foundation:  http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=287, Privacy Coalition  http://www.privacycoalition.org/stoprealid/sampletext.html or send a letter to the agency at Fax 1-866-466-5370. Postal mail: Department of Homeland Security Attn: NAC 1-12037 Washington, DC 20528 All comments must be received by until 5:00 PM EST on May 8, 2007. List of all of the Groups Supporting this Campaign 1. American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations 2. American Library Association 3. American Policy Center 4. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee 5. Association of American Physicians & Surgeons 6. Bill of Rights Defense Committee 7. Center for Digital Democracy 8. Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights 9. Citizen Outreach Project. 10. Citizens Against Government Waste 11. Common Cause 12. Computing Professionals for Social Responsibility 13. Consumer Action 14. DownsizeDC.org 15. Electronic Frontier Foundation 16. Electronic Privacy Information Center 17. Fairfax County Privacy Council 18. Give Me Back My Rights Coalition 19. Government Accountability Project 20. Gun Owners of America 21. Immigrant Workers Union 22. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 23. Liberty Coalition 24. National Center for Transgender Equality 25. National Council of Jewish Women 26. National Council of La Raza 27. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 28. National Immigration Law Center 29. OpenCarry.org 30. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays 31. Patient Privacy Rights Foundation 32. People for the American Way 33. Privacy Activism 34. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse 35. Privacy Times 36. Republican Liberty Caucus 37. Rutherford Institute, The 38. The Arc of the United States United Cerebral Palsy 39. The Multiracial Activist 40. US Bill of Rights Foundation 41. Virginia Citizens Defense League 42. Virginia Gun Owners Coalition 43. World Privacy Forum Hope Marston/Bill of Rights Defense Committee> Is the immigration system broken? Take Survey 01.05.2007 - 11:12 United Farm Workers Begin forwarded message: From: "United Farm Workers" Date: May 1, 2007 5:06:34 PM PDT Subject: May 1: Is the immigration system broken? Take our survey now.  http://www.ufwaction.org/ct/B7zGyvY14Phc/survey What do you think about farm worker immigration reform? We want to know. Take our immigration reform survey. Today is the anniversary of millions marching to demand immigration reform. Immigration reform is a vital issue to the UFW and the farm workers we represent. The UFW feels strongly that we need a solution to take the farm workers out of the shadows and eliminate the abuses many are forced to endure. We would like to hear your feedback in order to understand how our supporters feel about this issue. Please take a moment to fill out the following 2-page online survey. Thank you for taking the time to share you opinions with us.  http://www.ufwaction.org/ct/B7zGyvY14Phc/survey ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Spare Change Creates Change!  https://secure.ga6.org/08/donations/nmpzGyvY1IU_R? New E-mail address? Moved? Want to receive your e-mail at another e-mail addres? Want to receive alerts in plain text or HTML? It's easy. With one click you can update your profile at your Subscription Management Page. If you still need help, just e-mail us your new e-mail address and we'd be happy to make the change for you. To view your subscription management page go to: Update your profile at your Subscription Management Page at  http://www.ufwaction.org/ufw/smp.tcl?show_subs=profile&nkey=bb5gg7r4b7w8d5& Please add us to your safelist: Please add  ufwofamer@aol.com to your address book so that our messages don't get trapped in your spam filter. If you have questions about how to do this, drop us an e-mail. If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for the United Farm Workers at:  http://www.ufwaction.org/ufw/join.html?r=mpzGyvY1IU_RE& United Farm Workers, 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Rd., P.O. Box 62, Keene, CA, 93531 www.ufw.org Privacy Policy at:  http://www.ufwaction.org/ct/XdzGyvY14Ph4/privacy If you would like to unsubscribe from the UFW List Serve, please visit your subscription management page at:  http://www.ufwaction.org/ufw/smp.tcl?nkey=bb5gg7r4b7w8d5& ****************************** This email is Powered by Convio, Inc.  http://www.convio.com ****************************** United Farm Workers> The First May Day 01.05.2007 - 13:50 May Day, international workers' day. On every continent the advanced layers of workers and youth celebrate interna tionalist ideas and the struggle of the Labour movement. No surprise that the Tories in Britain tried to eradicate the holiday. No surprise either that workers' demonstrations are the focus of state repression around the world. But where does the modern May Day come from, who started it and why? May Day sprang from the struggle of the American working class. In 1884 the American Federation of Labor adopted the following demand: "Resolved by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, that eight hours shall con stitute a legal day's labor from May 1st, 1886, and that we recom mend to labor organizations throughout their jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to con form to this resolution by the time named." This slogan became the focus of a whole series of movements around the eight- hour day. On May 1st 1886, Albert Parsons of the Chicago Knights of Labor led 80,000 workers on a demonstration through Chicago in support of the campaign for an 8-hour day. They weren't alone. Within a few days 350,000 workers took strike action across the country involv ing 1200 factories. 70,000 struck in Chicago alone. August Spies, editor of the Arbeiter Zeitung (Workers Newspaper), spoke at a meeting of 6,000 workers on May 3rd. Following the meeting many of the participants moved down the street to harass scabs entering the McCormick plant. The police arrived, opened fire, and killed four people, wounding many more. On May 4 Spies, Parsons, and Samuel Fielden were speaking at a rally of 2,500 people held to protest the police massacre when 180 police officers arrived, led by the Chicago police chief. While he was calling for the meeting to disperse, a bomb exploded, killing one policeman. The police retaliated, killing seven of their own in the crossfire, plus four others; almost two hundred were wounded. The identity of the bomb thrower remains unknown. On June 21, 1886, on the back of a huge red scare campaign eight labor leaders, including Spies, Fielden, and Parsons went on trial, charged with responsibility for the bombing. The trial was rife with lies and contradictions, and the state prosecutor appealed to the jury: "convict these men, make an example of them, hang them, and you save our institutions." Each of the eight accused men spoke in court. Here is an excerpt from the address of August Spies: "The wage-workers of this city began to object to being fleeced too much - they began to say some very true things, but they were highly disagreeable to our patrician class; they put forth well, some very modest demands. They thought eight hours hard toil a day for scarcely two hours' pay was enough. "This lawless rabble had to be silenced! "The only way to silence them was to frighten them, and murder those whom they looked up to as their 'leaders.' Yes, these foreign dogs had to be taught a lesson, so that they might never again inter fere with the high-handed exploitation of their benevolent and Christian masters." Seven of the accused were sentenced to die and one to 15 years imprison ment. The trial was condemned by the Chicago bar and some years later all were pardoned by the Governor, not before four had been hanged and one had committed suicide. Two hundred thousand took part in the funeral either walking behind the coffin or lining the streets. May Day was born of the struggle of the working class and it celebrates that struggle, across the world today. Today, Latin America is at the forefront of the international movement of the working class. But that struggle involves us all and will spread across the globe again. Workers of all Countries unite, we have nothing to lose but our chains! homepage:  http://www.marxist.com COMMENT TO ABOVE ARTICLE What you fail to mention throughout this whole thing is that each of the men who were arrested and either hanged, pardoned, or who committed suicide on death row, were anarchists. The are our martyrs. So to all of you who look down on us lowly anarchists and are doing your best to keep us from the streets today, THIS IS OUR DAY. You will never take it from us, though we ask you to join in solidarity for all those who have died for this cause. Just remember who it is for and what it's really about. "Our silence in the grave will speak louder than the voices you are strangling now." -August Spies "Red November, black November: Bleak November, black and red; Hallowed month of Labor's martyrs, Labor's heroes, Labor's dead. Labor's hopes and wrath and sorrow- Red the promise, black the threat; Who are we not to remember? Who are we to dare forget! Black and red the colors blended, Black and red the pledge we made; Red, until the fight is ended, Black, until the debt is paid. Wesley Everest and Al. Parsons With Joe Hill and all the rest. Who are we to not remember? Who are we to dare forget!" -Ralph Chaplin contribute to this article add comment to discussion Terry McPartlan>