[Antiracism] [Workers Rights] Upcoming Events

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

December & after
	SHOP SWEATFREE!
	SweatFree Communities, Sweatshop Watch, and International Labor
Rights Forum have produced the 2007-08 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide
- http://www.sweatfree.org/shopping - filled with excellent products made in
good working conditions. One of the most important criteria for meaningful
and dignified work is that workers themselves have an effective, collective
voice in determining their wages and working conditions. The products in
this shopping guide are made by workers organized into democratic unions or
worker-owned cooperatives. All retailers and wholesalers listed have
undergone a rigorous application process to give us the confidence that
their products truly meet sweatfree criteria. Includes Sweatshop Hall of
Shame at http://www.sweatfree.org/hallofshame, which includes Wal-Mart. See
December 12.

Monday December 10
	INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
	Commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted
with Eleanor Roosevelt's leadership and ratified by representatives of
four-fifths of United Nations member countries on December 10, 1948. Among
other basic human rights, the declaration states, "Everyone has the right to
form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests." 
	Unfortunately, here in the United States this fundamental human
right is under attack. When you look at what employers are permitted to do,
and when you look at what the Bush administration's Labor Board has done to
roll back workers' rights, it is clear that workers in America don't have
freedom to protect their own interests. 
	Human Rights Watch, an internationally recognized watchdog
organization, studied what happens to workers in the US who try to form
unions. The group found we've got a fundamental human rights issue on our
hands. And the International Labor Organization has said the US is out of
compliance with internationally recognized workers' rights standards.
	Click http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/protect_our_rights/? to
tell your Senators to fight to restore these rights and pass the Employee
Free Choice Act - EFCA. In March, it sailed through the House of
Representatives; in May, it garnered majority support in the Senate but not
enough to override the filibuster.
	Unionization has been the most successful anti-poverty program in US
history. Now, no single piece of legislation will do more than EFCA to fight
poverty and create the America that everyone deserves. 

Monday December 10
	MASSACHUSETTS JOBS WITH JUSTICE AWARDS GRINCH OF THE YEAR
	Details will be at www.massjwj.net.  You can still vote for Western
Mass's own Don D'Amour (Big Y Supermarkets) at
www.unionvoice.org/massjwj/ma_grinch_07.html. 

Monday December 10
	CALL PAULA ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
	As many of you know, television chef Paula Deen has become the paid
public spokeswoman for Smithfield Foods. This holiday season, you'll be
seeing her face turn up on pork products at your local supermarket, many of
which originate from the plant in Tar Heel. Working conditions at that plant
rank among the most brutal in the US, and, in years past, were even profiled
by the international watchdog Human Rights Watch. With such high visibility
and influence within the company, we believe that Paula is in a unique
position to steer the company toward a more humane path. But we need your
help! Contact Paula and ask her to be a human rights leader for Smithfield!
Call her at her Savannah restaurant: (912) 233-2600 or use the contact form
on her website: http://www.pauladeen.com/contact.

Monday December 10
	HUMAN RIGHTS DAY PROTEST AT VERIZON
	Noon, Verizon's New England Headquarters, 185 Franklin Street,
Boston (Post Office Square). Union members will demand that management
respect workers rights to form unions and reinstate five fired Verizon
technicians (the “FiOS Five”). The FiOS Five were fired simply because they
failed to meet unreasonable productivity quotas that put employees and the
public at risk. IBEW Local 2222 has filed unfair labor practice charges at
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because Verizon management did not
bargain in good faith over the terminations.
 	On December 10 we will also focus attention on management's refusal
to recognize the union recently formed by the Verizon Business (VZB) techs.
More than 60% of VZB workers in the Northeast signed union cards and had
their majority independently verified by Senator John Kerry and
Representatives Stephen Lynch and John Tierney last March. The NLRB has
issued complaints against VZB management for spying on, discriminating
against, and threatening employees.
	If Verizon board member and prominent Boston socialite Sandra Moose
wins the Jobs with Justice annual Grinch award, union leaders will make a
presentation to her for supporting Verizon while it violated labor rights
and backing Verizon's bid to abandon rural communities by selling its
landlines in northern New England to tiny FairPoint
(www.stopthesalenow.org). Info: Rand Wilson, 617-929-6000,
mailto:rwilson at aflcio.org.

Monday December 10
	WESTERN MASS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY RALLIES
	4pm, Vigil & Speak-out, Greenfield Town Common, sponsored by the
Coalition for Women's Lives and the Western Mass Local of the Socialist
Party. Info: Susan Dorazio, mailto:susandor at crocker.com.
	6pm, Candlelight Vigil & Reading of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Amherst Town Common, sponsored by the Amherst Human Rights
Commission. Info: Claudia Rhodes, mailto:cmerhodes at yahoo.com
	
Monday December 10 & Tuesday December 11
	AFL-CIO TO HOST HISTORIC GLOBAL WORKERS' RIGHTS CONFERENCE
	The AFL-CIO will host more than 200 trade union leaders from the US
and 63 countries around the world in the Washington area at a historic
conference and congressional forum on the international crisis in workers'
rights and the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.
	The two-day conference, "Going Global: Organizing, Recognition, and
Union Rights", is sponsored by the Council of Global Unions (CGU). The
Council of Global Unions (CGU) is made up of the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD and 10
of the Global Union Federations. The AFL-CIO represents 10 million working
men and women nationwide.  
	This is the first time this number of trade union leaders from
around the globe have gathered to develop ideas and strategies to combat
corporations' and governments' efforts to suppress workers' freedom to form
and join unions, enhance cooperation among trade unions across borders, and
better represent workers in a global economy.  
	The conference will also include a special press briefing and forum
at the US Congress on December 11, "Restoring Workers' Rights to Organize:
Global Perspectives, Global Action". The forum will be chaired and moderated
by congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Sen.
Edward Kennedy, and Rep. George Miller. Trade union leaders from around the
world will discuss why respect for freedom of association and collective
bargaining is crucial to the survival of human rights and democracy around
the world. Leaders will also urge for the passage of the Employee Free
Choice Act, which they consider vital to their own effort to achieve full
organizing and bargaining rights in their own countries and with
multinational companies. Info: www.aflcio.org.

Wednesday December 12
	PIONEER VALLEY COALITION TO CHANGE & CHALLENGE WAL-MART
	7pm, Converse Hall Room 209, Amherst College, Rt 116 at Rt 9,
Amherst. Agenda includes: Hadley and other site-fights; Wake-Up Wal-Mart
actions; StopSprawlMart.org; and "Relocalization", Sustainability, and Buy
Local campaigns.
	We are inviting activists in Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy
Communities and Pioneer Valley Sustainability Network to come brief us on
their goals and see if there are ways to work together.
 	Note: Hadley Planning Board November 20 approved a subdivision plan
that exempts a planned 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter from the
current bylaw restriction of 75,000 square feet. Developers now have 8 years
to get a site plan approved before the exemption expires. The board will
review the site plan in January.
	Info: Aron Goldman, 549-1193, mailto:goldman at policydevelopment.org. 

Wednesday December 12
	HEALTH CARE CRISIS IN AMERICA: NOW & IN THE FUTURE
	7pm, Florence Civic Center, 90 Park St, Florence (corners of Park St
& North Main St next to Lilly Library; 584-5048). The League of Women Voters
of the Northampton Area presents a discussion of health care, including
details of a proposed universal, single-payer health care program, led by
members of the Amherst and Northampton Leagues. The League of Women Voters
is a non-partisan organization that addresses specific issues in the areas
of social policy, natural resources, international relations, and open
representative government. Info: 586-0426, mailto:yfreccero at aol.com,
www.lwvnorthamptonarea.org.

Week of December 16-22
	LEAFLETTING BIG Y STORES
	More info in separate email. Contact Jon Weissman, 827-0301,
mailto:wmjwj at wmjwj.org.

Tuesday December 18 (Third Tuesdays)
	FRANKLIN/HAMPSHIRE HEALTH CARE COALITION
	7pm (6:45pm social time), Lathrop Village Community Room, Shallow
Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd, Northampton. Organizing for the Mass. Health
Care Trust Fund Bill. Info: Franklin/Hampshire Health Care Coalition, PO Box
3011, Amherst 01004, 586-0345, mailto:franko1810 at aol.com. 
	The Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund Bill calls for a universal
health care system, providing universal access, a comprehensive range of
physical and mental health benefits, choice of provider, quality, unified
financing and cost controls, accountable governance, and stability. A
Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund will be a “single-payer” of all health
care costs, statewide. Details of the Bill, action ideas: MASS-CARE,
800-383-1973, mailto:masscare at aol.com, www.masscare.org. 

Wednesday December 19 (Third Wednesdays)
	MASS SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL – GREATER SPRINGFIELD CHAPTER
	1:30-3:30pm, 1124 Berkshire Av, Springfield. MSAC tackles vital
issues, including single-payer health care and prescription drug price
relief. No age requirement! For info or a ride: 543-2334,
mailto:mbewsee at masssenioraction.org.

Wednesday December 19 (Third Wednesdays)
	ALLIANCE FOR INJURED WORKERS
	4-6pm, First Congregational Church, 20 Lathrop St, corner of Park
St, W Springfield. Unique organization run by injured workers for injured
workers. No perfume, cologne please; some members suffer from chemical
sensitivity due to workplace injury. Info: 827-0643 or 731-0760,
mailto:comphurts at aol.com; www.afiw.org. Ask for your FREE copy of “Injured
Workers Survival Guide”.

Wednesday December 19 (Third Wednesday)
	PIONEER VALLEY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
	7pm, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter, across
the street from the old Westinghouse, Springfield. Community and labor
activist guests are welcome, but contact 732-7970, mailto:mail at pvaflcio.org.

Thursday December 20 (Third Thursdays)
	MASS SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL – GREENFIELD CHAPTER
	1:30pm, Greenfield Senior Center, 54 High St, Greenfield (772-1517).
MSAC tackles vital issues, including single-payer health care and
prescription drug price relief. No age requirement! For info or a ride:
543-2334, mailto:mbewsee at masssenioraction.org.

Thursday December 20
	“A PRAYER FOR WAL-MART TO CHANGE”
	4:30pm, Wal-Mart parking lot, 1105 Boston Road, Springfield. A
candlelight vigil with several religious and community speakers asking and
praying that the #1 importer of goods from China, Wal-Mart, put the safety
of our families first this holiday season! Info: Tyrone Housey, 732-6209
x17, mailto:thousey at ufcw1459.com.

CANCELLED: Tuesday December 25 (Fourth Tuesdays)
	HAMPSHIRE-FRANKLIN CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
	7:30pm, McDonald House, next to Roundhouse Plaza, intersection of
Conz St, Clark Av, & Old South St, Northampton; enter rear. Community and
labor activist guests are welcome, but call Fiore Grassetti, 877-725-0357,
mailto:org7 at comcast.net.

MORE WESTERN MASS ACTIVISM & EDUCATION EVENTS AT
http://www.westernmassafsc.org/calendar/calendar.html.

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