Currently viewing the tag: “Solidarity”
The governing council of the United Methodist Church of the U.S. wants to make clear to American Muslims that its members firmly condemn the burning of the holy Qur’an and other acts of disrespect for Islam—and it’s putting its money where its mouth is. Noting with alarm the violence and danger to human life entailed in several retaliatory church burnings that occurred in Pakistan as the inevitable backlash to the provocative actions of Rev. Terry Jones, the United Methodists have made a very special offer to the worldwide Muslim community, to show their spiritual unity with Muslims who feel themselves threatened as a result of Jones’ actions.
At a press conference at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria attended by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Catholic Abp. Theodore McCarrick of Newark, religious scholar Karen Armstrong, and Egyptian sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Methodist Bishop Walter M. Itty issued the following statement:
“Every time a Qur’an is burned every religious believer in the world is threatened with harm. Each time a bigoted individual offends the sensibilities of a billion Islamic believers around the world by mocking or depicting the prophet Muhammad, each of us is sick at heart. We people of faith will not permit ourselves to be divided against each other by the apostles of intolerance. We will, we will not be moved. I noted with particular grief in recent days the latest, unavoidable consequence of Rev. Jones’ irresponsible and hurtful actions: the destruction of three churches in faraway Pakistan—attacks that entailed armed militants, the hurling of stones, and fires in which civilians could well have been injured. It is fortunate that fire-fighters did not reach any of these churches in time, or those public servants also might have been hurt. I hope that Rev. Jones looks deep into his conscience, and asks himself in prayer how much more damage he is willing to inflict on people of faith worldwide.”
Pausing for a moment, overcome by emotion, Bishop Itty continued by making a pledge of “unconditional solidarity” with Muslims worldwide. “I want to offer my Muslim friends a solemn promise: On the next occasion when someone commits such a bigoted act against Muslims, when a Qur’an is burned or desecrated anywhere in the world, we in the United Methodist community will respond promptly and concretely, by demolishing one of our own church buildings—safely, with the help of licensed explosives professionals, and under the supervision of the relevant local Islamic authorities. There is no need for armed militants or the use of force; I have asked Sheik Qaradawi to work with me and with Muslim groups in foreign countries to make sure that this process is orderly and non-violent, in the hope that we can take what might be a moment that divides Christians from Muslims, and instead make it into a celebration of unity.”
In a brief follow-up statement, Sheik Qaradawi accepted Bishop Itty’s offer. “We are willing to undertake this, out of honor for the prophet Isa (Peace be upon him), and as an act of mercy toward these People of the Book.”
AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow Jennifer Angarita contributed to this report.
Today, on what would have been César Chávez’s 84th birthday, students, workers and immigrants joined together to pay tribute to the legacy of Chávez.
As a renowned labor activist and a leader of the United Farm Workers (UFW), Chávez’s dedicated vision helped elevate the plight of migrant farm workers to a national spotlight. Today, in Wisconsin and other states where the middle class is under attack, working people are reminded of the struggle for economic and social justice that Chávez and others dedicated their lives to.
From San Diego to Phoenix, Ariz., hundreds of thousands of working people are gathering together to hold national days of solidarity to honor heroes such as Martin Luther King Jr. and César Chávez. Hector Sanchez, executive director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, says local LCLAA chapters across the United States have organized events to build on Chavez’s struggle for jobs and economic justice. Sanchez says:
Today, we reflect on the life of a man who roused nationwide support for the farm workers’ struggle. Through non-violent actions, he organized hundreds of thousands of farm workers into unions, ensuring them better pay and safer working conditions….As we commemorate his life and legacy, we must remember that the fight for social and economic justice for workers persists.
Jobs with Justice and the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) have also organized more than 150 campuses around the United States to hold actions in honor of César Chávez and build solidarity between students and workers. Chris Hick, SLAP coordinator, says:
SLAP has been participating in Farmworker Awareness Week with direct action in Florida, California and Massachusetts while also putting on movie showings across the country in honor of Chávez. The farm worker movement is as strong today as it was in the 60s and 70s, and SLAP is proud to honor that fact.
For Hicks, the struggle for workers’ rights in Wisconsin and other states is intricately linked to the struggle of César Chávez and migrant farm workers.
Chávez was able to see and connect movements. He understood how an attack on the public sector, on students, or the private sector resulted in an attack on all. While he is known for fighting on behalf of farm workers, he was much more visionary than that—and the attacks on workers and the right to collective bargaining in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana reminds us of the importance of solidarity. Today, we are seeing students and labor stand together in a shared struggle.
Years after his death, Chávez continues to inspire millions to commit themselves to workers’ rights, civil rights and environmental justice. While Chávez’s work had a direct positive impact on the lives of migrant farm workers, today’s ongoing legislative attacks on immigrants, students, unions and the poor reminds us that the battle for justice for working people continues. To learn more about the teach-ins, rallies and other actions held in honor of Chávez and Dr. King, visit: www.we-r-1.org.
Chávez’s union, the UFW, also launched a comprehensive online resource center on Chávez. To learn more about Chavez’s life and accomplishments click here and here.
To join online campaign in honor of César Chávez, click here: http://apps.facebook.com/VivaCesarChavez/
When it comes to the Make-Believe Media, some news is more equal than others. And it’s not just a numbers racket. So when do the numbers justify news coverage?
Six hundred people at a New York AIDS rally make the New York Times. Smaller crowds make news if the cause is liberally righteous enough, such as protesting NY City spending cuts. Predictably, 3,000 anti-war protestors whether in San Francisco or Bangladesh merit AP attention and become an international news headline for the BBC. A rally 5,000 strong protesting violent crime in New Orleans gets Google’s powerful press with multiple stories reported around the country. Ditto St. Louis where 5,000 gathered to protest violence. Indeed, just days ago, on March 24th, 2011, both MSNBC and Fox News circulated the AP’s report that 5,000 gathered at a pro-illegal immigrant rally in Atlanta, Georgia.
So it would seem 5,000 people doing anything vaguely political pretty much anywhere seems to be a magic news number, a politically critical mass worthy of coverage, right? Wrong. Consider two different events over the same weekend in the Los Angeles Area. Both drew over 5,000 registered marchers: One a “Labor” rally; the other a “Life” rally.
Over the past weekend in Los Angeles, big labor organized a “Solidarity Saturday” rally to protest Wisconsin’s curtailment of union bargaining rights. On Sunday, an unknown, local grassroots group Walk4Life SoCal organized the first annual pro-life march around Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. Again, both rallies exceeded 5,000 marchers.
Now, it’s MBM pop quiz time:
- Which rally did the L.A. Times hype with a puff piece one day before the event (free advertising from the news department reminding folks to attend)?
- For which event did the L.A. Times file a follow-up piece the day after the event doubling down as it were for the cause?
- Which event did the AP pick up and Google regurgitate for good measure?
If you don’t know, refuse to answer or object to the questions on principle, you qualify for a job at MediaMatters.
Over 5,000 pro-life advocates marched for the unborn at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sunday, March 27th. They walked to send a positive message of life, to answer “yes” to the question of life in the womb. The only paper to report this first ever Rose Bowl Walk for Life was the Pasadena Star News, a local paper owned by umbrella Los Angeles Newspapers Group (the Group also ran the labor rally story in one of its other local papers, The Daily News).
The Arch Bishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez delivered the opening remarks. Live Action’s Lila Rose, African-American pro-life preacher Walter Hoye, film producer Jason (“Bella”) Jones, and Hispanic actress Karyme Lozano spoke to the cheering crowds of pro-life families before the three mile march. Families stayed afterwards to express support for those in crisis pregnancies, visit pro-life booths, and enjoy music by Christian bands including Christafari.
Predictably, the Star News’ reporter with myopic issue spotting skills covering the pro-life event misquoted Arch Bishop Jose Gomez, mischaracterized the positive message of life in the story’s lede, never bothered to get a head count from the organizers, and totally missed the monumental story right in front of his nose: how and why twelve mothers organized a very successful, grassroots political pro-life march in less than a year, complete with nationally known pro-life champions from all walks of life in the backyard of Hollywood’s liberal film-making mecca.
There is a huge story here that parallels the tea party phenomenon motivating regular Americans to push back against the forces of liberalism and abortion, but unless you lived in Pasadena or attended the Walk for Life at the Rose Bowl, which I did, you wouldn’t have known about the pro-life rally from the L.A.Times, the AP, or anyone else in the Make-Believe Media. Can you say Washington D.C. Tea Party?
Clearly the numbers didn’t matter. The MBM continues to apply the same myopic lens to conservative political causes as it did during the explosion of the Tea Party rallies in 2009. The MBM selectively bolsters its pet causes and minimizes, downplays, distorts or outright ignores large numbers gathering for causes it does not sanction.
The MBM does not inform public opinion; it shapes public opinion by showing only what it wants people to see, obscuring from view that which does not fit the liberal template. It all depends on the cause. Just as “the ends justify the means” in socialist dogma, the cause justifies the coverage in the Make-Believe Media.
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Monday, April 4 marks the 43rd anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was assassinated while helping Memphis, Tenn., sanitation workers fight for the same workers’ rights that governors and state legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states are now trying to eliminate. These assaults have sparked energy and built a solidarity movement to defend workers’ rights and middle-class job
Starting this weekend with religious services around the nation and continuing next week, working people will gather in We Are One events to honor King’s memory and stand in solidarity with workers across the country who are facing unprecedented attacks on their rights and their jobs.
More than 400 events have already been set and union, civil rights, faith and community activists are announcing more each day. We expect as a many as many as 1,000 large and small events nationwide, from more than 100 teach-ins to candle-light vigils and worksite actions. Click here to find an event near you.
There is still time to plan an event—a get together with co-workers at lunchtime, spending a few minutes with friends to e-mail or call your state legislators or congressional representatives, or holding a bake sale or carwash to help raise funds for working people fighting for a better life. Click here for ideas you can use to stage your own event, here for resources and here to add an event to our We Are One calendar. (Follow the events and tell about yours on Twitter with the hashtag #april4)
King often drew a parallel between the civil rights and union movements. Economic justice and workers’ rights were an integral part of his vision for racial equality. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says King was “a tireless champion of the working class.”
In Memphis, King was supporting the 1,300 striking African American sanitation workers who were demanding recognition of their union (AFSCME), an agreement that the city would withhold union dues from workers’ paychecks, a small pay raise and improved safety standards.
In one his speeches to workers King said:
All labor has dignity. You are…reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages. We know that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?
Earlier this year, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker reminded a Cincinnati crowd protesting Gov. John Kasich’s (R) executive order eliminating collective bargaining rights for home health care and child care workers King’s commitment to social and economic justice.
As we look back at the legacy of Dr. King, we recall that he traveled to Memphis more than 40 years ago to defend and uphold the dignity and value of all work, and all working people. Tonight we affirm our commitment to those principles and that moral vision.
Click here for more on King and labor rights from historian Michael Honey, who will be at AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. April 4 reading from his new book, “All Labor Has Dignity”: a compilation of King’s speeches on labor and economic justice. If you’re in Washington, D.C., click here for more information on how you can attend.
Written by Mong Palatino
Ipoh Echo writes about the 43-metre ‘People’s Solidarity Suspension Bridge' which was built in a remote Malaysian town without government funding.
Jesse Walker draws lessons from the quake:
Disaster movies and disaster research might as well come from different planets. When Hollywood shows you an earthquake, an eruption, or a towering inferno, you see mass panic, stampeding crowds, maybe a looting spree. When sociologists study real-life disasters, they see calm, resourceful people evacuating buildings, rescuing strangers, and cooperating nonviolently.
… These patterns shift somewhat from culture to culture, and if a disaster coincides with certain conditions—severe class distinctions, a serious pre-existing crime problem, a police department that's especially corrupt—a post-disaster riot may break out. But that's the exception, not the rule. On Monday, Ed West of the London Telegraph asked with awe, "Why is there no looting in Japan?" A better query would be, "When people do loot, what prompted the plunder?"
(Photo: A man and his sister stand before their broken house, destroyed by the tsunami at Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture on March 17, 2011. The official number of dead and missing after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's northeast coast has hit 14,650, police said, a rise of nearly 1,000 in just a few hours. By Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images)
Jesse Walker draws lessons from the quake:
Disaster movies and disaster research might as well come from different planets. When Hollywood shows you an earthquake, an eruption, or a towering inferno, you see mass panic, stampeding crowds, maybe a looting spree. When sociologists study real-life disasters, they see calm, resourceful people evacuating buildings, rescuing strangers, and cooperating nonviolently.
… These patterns shift somewhat from culture to culture, and if a disaster coincides with certain conditions—severe class distinctions, a serious pre-existing crime problem, a police department that's especially corrupt—a post-disaster riot may break out. But that's the exception, not the rule. On Monday, Ed West of the London Telegraph asked with awe, "Why is there no looting in Japan?" A better query would be, "When people do loot, what prompted the plunder?"
(Photo: A man and his sister stand before their broken house, destroyed by the tsunami at Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture on March 17, 2011. The official number of dead and missing after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's northeast coast has hit 14,650, police said, a rise of nearly 1,000 in just a few hours. By Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images)
Teresa Casertano in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department sends us this report.
As tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents rally and march across the state tomorrow for the fourth weekend in a row, they will receive support from union members in Berlin who are holding a solidarity rally. Members of the German telecommunications union, ver.di, will turn out to to support bargaining rights for workers in the United States. They know that collective bargaining is not possible unless workers are able to join unions and participate in their own organizations free from the fear of reprisals by their employers.
In a letter to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is trying to take away the right of public employees to bargain for a good, middle-class life, Frank Bsirske, chairman of the United Services Union ver.di of Germany, said Walker’s “proposed unilateral action” is:
an attack on one of the fundamental pillars in a well-developed democracy, where social dialogue and collective bargaining through trade unions secure constructive relationships between employers and employees. This kind of relationship has proved its high value in many countries, both in times of economic growth and during crisis.
The ver.di members are part of a global effort with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Council of Global Unions, UNI Global Union and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to organize 40,000 T-Mobile USA technicians, call center and retail workers all over the United States. T-Mobile is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, a German company that employs nearly 132,000 workers in Germany, most of whom are ver.di members. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom respects workers’ right to belong to the union and engages productively with the union through collective bargaining.
Ver.di members have learned about the reality for T-Mobile workers in the United States, as T-Mobile USA workers have told stories of being instructed to turn in their colleagues for receiving union materials or to report any gathering of workers, even if they take place in the evening or on weekends. U.S. workers described their terror of even learning about their rights fearing that any demonstration of interest in the union would result in reprimand, reprisals surrounding promotions or opportunities for advancement, or outright dismissal.
Ver.di was shocked and disappointed that a German employer that has participated in dialogue and collective bargaining in its home country would stoop to the worst union-busting practices in its operations in the United States and other countries. Because they expect better from Deutsche Telekom they have taken a leadership role along with the the global labor movement to carry out a coordinated campaign to ensure that all Deutsche Telekom/ T-Mobile workers can exercise their right to organize and bargain collectively free from fear and intimidation.
From an email I received from DG:
Religious conflict in Egypt
Via memeorandum: 9 Christians Killed, 150 Injured in Attack By 15,000 Muslims and Egyptian Army
It seems like that solidarity in Egypt is over:
The incident started when 500 Coptic demonstrators from Manshier Nasr, also known as “Garbage City,” which is near the Monastery, were on their way to join the Coptic protest near the Egyptian TV Building, to show their solidarity with the Copts of the village of Soul in Atfif, who were forcibly displaced from their village and their church torched (AINA 3-5-2011). Nearly 15,000 Muslims from the nearby area of Sayeda Aisha and Mokattam, who were armed with weapons including automatic guns, confronted the Copts.
The clashes first started with hurling of stones at the Coptic demonstrators, then Molotov Cocktails. According to eyewitnesses the Copts called the army which arrived at the scene at 15:00 with 10 tanks . At first the military stood by watching, then shot in the air, then at the Coptic side with live ammunition.
“We were at one side and the Muslim on the other, we have hundreds of injured at the Coptic side,” said an eyewitness. “The Muslims were also shooting from behind the army tanks.”
CAMERA featured the above report and corrected a couple of details. CAMERA also noted that the MSM is starting to report on this violence.
One aspect of the New York Times report that’s a little disconcerting is:
On Tuesday night into early Wednesday, 13 people were killed and 140 wounded in fighting between Muslims and Christians in the suburbs of Cairo, the Health Ministry said. The clashes, which broke out during a protest by several hundred Christians over the burning last week of a church in the village of Soul, were a significant departure from the sense of solidarity that had prevailed among people of different backgrounds throughout the weeks of protests that led to Mr. Mubarak’s resignation.
Yes it acknowledges the protest and the burning of the church, but it begins with “fighting between Muslims and Christians” when it would have been more accurate to report “Muslims attacked Christians protesting.”
Also the article had originally been strictly about the sectarian violence, which is now the secondary focus of the article. The headline and primary focus is now about Mohammed el-Baradei.
The Times also reports on an Egyptian novelist:
“And be careful, there will be efforts, the same old trick, to display large support for the Brotherhood in order to send a renewed message to the West that it is either dictatorship or the Brotherhood,” he said, referring to Western fears that a rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood could turn Egypt into an Islamic fundamentalist state.
Mr. Aswany has always been dismissive of the idea that democracy would usher Islamists into power.
The strongest party in Egypt “is the party of Facebook,” he told another literary and political salon on Jan. 27.
“That is a real party, which has allowed a group of youth to get 400,000 people on the streets.
No other party, including the Muslim Brotherhood, has succeeded in doing that.”With the sectarian violence becoming more serious, Aswany’s faith in “the party of Facebook” seems a bit misplaced.
Technorati Tag: Egypt and Copts.
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This weekend, thousands of Wisconsin farmers will not be working in the fields or milking cows. They will be driving their tractors in a mass tractorcade in support of public employees at the state Capital in Madison. Three statewide farm organizations are organizing the tractorcade March 12 to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s state budget and proposal to end collective bargaining rights for state employees.
Rural communities will be disproportionately hurt by Walker’s proposed budget, and farmers in Wisconsin want to send a message that they stand with state workers and all working and middle-class families in the state.
If you have a tractor and would like to join in the tractorcade, please contact John Peck at Family Farm Defenders at 608-260-0900 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Family Farm Defenders is sponsoring the tractorcade along with Wisconsin Farmers Union and Land Stewardship project.
Joel Greeno will be there. He is a dairy farmer and vice president of Family Farm Defenders. Greeno and other family farmers throughout the state say the bill will not only affect state employees, it also will hurt them.
Greeno told Beth Borzone of the Colesville (Wis.) Patch that dairy co-ops might be the next target if Walker can destroy public employees’ rights.
Collective bargaining rights are the principles that all of our co-ops operate on. And if they start eroding collective bargaining rights for workers, farmers in co-ops are just next on the chopping block, so if we don’t stand together and defend our rights, we all are going to take cuts in turn.
John Peck, executive director of Family Farm Defenders, tells Borzone that farm income will decline if public employees lose the ability to bargain for decent wages.
Consumers won’t be able to have as much money if their wages are cut. The recession is bad enough already. Why make it worse by taking away what few benefits and living wages that people do have thanks to the labor unions? It doesn’t make much sense.
“Everybody deserves a living wage, not just a few people,” Peck says.
Farmers understand that because they are always at the bottom of the pile. I think that’s why they can empathize with the workers. It’s just not fair. It’s a human rights issue.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis where he was standing with sanitation workers demanding their dream of a better life. Today, the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a middle class life are under attack as never before.
People across America—black, white, Latino and Asian American—are electrified by that same dream and are standing up for the right to join together for our common dreams.
Join us to make April 4, 2011, a day to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show movement. A day to be creative, a day to show that “We Are One.”
Save the date. To learn more, click here.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis where he was standing with sanitation workers demanding their dream of a better life. Today, the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a middle class life are under attack as never before.
People across America—black, white, Latino and Asian American—are electrified by that same dream and are standing up for the right to join together for our common dreams.
Join us to make April 4, 2011, a day to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show movement. A day to be creative, a day to show that “We Are One.”
Save the date. To learn more, click here.
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson correctly observe that organized labor was integral to throwing together a political coalition for financial regulatory reform:
When the financial crisis hit in 2008, unions were a primary voice urging reform. In the face of aggressive lobbying by the health-care and financial industries, labor sunk a huge share of its limited resources into advocacy groups pushing for health-care reform and greater financial regulation.
This brings to mind the phenomenon that’s sort of the obverse of union decline—the extraordinary level of solidarity manifested by the corporate executive class in the United States of America. There are plenty of individual firms that benefit from this or that public sector spending stream, but essentially all business organizations are solidly united in opposition to essentially all possible ways to enhance government revenue. On financial reform, it’s not merely that the big banks opposed the Dodd-Frank bill, but there was absolutely no counter-lobbying from firms in the non-financial economy in favor of it. And that’s not to say that Dodd-Frank was the greatest thing since sliced brad, but there were no proposals coming out of corporate America for any financial regulatory overhaul of any kind. Yet clearly something went badly awry in 2007-2008. But the business class united behind TARP, then united to oppose any regulatory reforms, and is now united against any return to pre-Bush levels of taxation on rich people.
We’re so accustomed to this kind of thing that we take it for granted, but I don’t think it’s obvious ex ante that business lobbying should be such a simultaneously solidaristic and nihilistic venture. Presumably most American firms would, in fact, benefit from the existence of a sensible and sustainable financial regulatory scheme. But there’s no lobbying activity whatsoever dedicated to creating it.
Written by Firuzeh Shokooh Valle
Sympathizers with the student strike at the University of Puerto Rico will stage simultaneous demonstrations in solidarity with the UPR in cities around the world on Friday, March 11, 2011. Some cities are Amsterdam, Madrid, New York and Manchester.
Dozens—even hundreds—of rallies are taking place across the nation today as people show their solidarity with embattled public employees in Wisconsin, Ohio and all states where governors and legislatures are trying to slash the right to bargain for good middle-class jobs. Here’s how you can join them.
- Follow the action via our live Twitter feed here, as people around the country live-tweet from rallies and events via the hashtag, #WeAreWI.
- Watch as MoveOn.org live webstreams from rallies around the country. Click here to watch.
- Sign the petition telling Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to stop attacking workers and the American Dream. Sign here.
- Write a message of solidarity to workers at the “We Are One” Facebook page.
- Add ”We Are One” Facebook and Twitter avatars to show your solidarity with state workers. Click here for icons.
