3/30/10

Welcome Back From Spring Break!

Welcome Back From Spring Break! We're rolling right into spring with lost of exciting things planned for the next few months! Please not3 that our meeting room has been moved from room B14 to room 26, still in the School of Social Work, this will be out meeting room for the whole quarter.

This Wed 3/31 ISO Meeting, 7pm Room 26 School of Social Work

1. Health Care Reform: This Cure leaves the Disease Untreated
We'll kick off the meeting with a political discussion about the passage of health care legislation, which Liberal organizations are praising but the sad truth is that it will do more harm than good for working people.


Check out these articles for more analysis:

2. Organizing in the Spring Quarter
For the second section of the meeting we will continue discussing our campus activism for the Spring Quarter -- Anti-Budget Cuts and LGBT rights organizing, as well as Ideas for our own events etc... Bring ideas and join in the discussion!


Thursday 4/1, There are two good events to check out
6:00 UW Student/Worker Coalition Meeting in Suzzallo Cafe -- Get involved in the organizing for continuing events to stop the budget cuts at UW -- We need all the help we can get to put on a teach-in and other direct action events this Quarter.

7:30 Direct Art, Direct Action! CARE's annual spoken word event and social justice mixer
Ethnic Cultural Center: Black Room ( 3931 Brooklyn Ave NE)
Campus Animal Rights Educators' (CARE) annual spoken word event, featuring: Jared Paul, the UW Slam Team, and A Leaf. Doors @ 7:15  Show @ 7:30 This year's theme is Social Justice. The ISO will be there tabling with other groups and talking politics with other activists and Social Justice minded folks!


3/17/10

3/17 Report from the ISO National Convention

Report from the ISO National Convention
 
Wed, March 17, 7pm
Room B14
UW School of Social Work
(4101 15th Ave NE)
 
Is the economic crisis over or will it get worse? Is the US no longer the world's sole super power? Why have Obama and the democrats done almost nothing to benefit working people in their first year? Are more Americans open to socialist ideas now or has the right made a comeback? What is the state of the LGBT rights, anti-budget cuts, labor, antiwar and other movements? How can we win real change and what is the role of socialists in making it happen?
 
These questions and many more were addressed last weekend at the National Convention of the International Socialist Organizaiton. Every year members of the ISO from Seattle and across the country hold a month-long discussion period and elect delegates to the convention to discuss the state of the world and prospects for socialist organizing in the coming months and years. Join us to hear this exciting report back and talk about how it applies to what's happening here in Seattle.
 

3/9/10

Reminder No Public Meeting 3/10

Just a reminder, in order to prepare for the ISO's national convention we will be having a closed, members only, meeting this wed 3/10. We will resume our weekly public meetings next wed the 17th!!

Instead of our wed meeting, we'd like to direct you to 2 great events on Thursday hosted by coalitions and groups that we are involved with. The Student-Worker Coalition's UW General Assembly for budget cuts organizing and afterward SOLE's ENDA Launch Party with a showing of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"all the info for both events is below, get involved in organizing around these important issues!

 *******
UW General Assembly:
The student strike was only the beginning! Come discuss how we can do it even better!


Thursday, March 11, 2010  6:00pm - 7:30pm
Smith 205, UW-Seattle

On March 4th, hundreds of students walked out of class at UW to protest budget cuts, tuition hikes, financial aid cuts, layoffs, and abuse of campus workers. Custodians, tradespeople, TAs, high school students and teachers joined them in solidarity.

It was one of the largest and most energetic demonstrations at UW in years as this video shows: http://www.facebook.com/l/6a319;www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3cLxJkbKAY

March 4th was so large because the Student Worker Coalition spent 6 weeks doing outreach for it in our classes, workplaces, and on campus.

But it had so much energy because hundreds of people spontaneously stepped up and spoke out, many of us leading chants and strategizing together to march through classrooms and to take over the Ave. Ya'll made it bigger and more powerful than the SWC organizers expected. By making decisions together in the streets we were showing that THIS is what democracy looks like!

But March 4th is just the beginning. Let's start mobilizing NOW for the next action so that, as Russell puts it in the video above, we will come back bigger and stronger than UW and Seattle have ever seen!

Come to the UW General Assembly Against Budget Cuts to express your views about where the movement should go from here. Think about what we should do next. A bigger rally? Another strike with deeper and longer picket lines? Civil Disobedience? How can we up the ante? And how can we get the message out that budget cuts affect all of us and we need to fight back before UW becomes even less accessible to folks from our communities!

Please invite your friends and if you can come with proposals for how to move forward from here.

***NOTE: We especially want representatives from various Ethnic Cultural Center groups, various departments, various workplaces, and other student organizations to come out. Make sure your community is represented. We understand it's almost finals so if you can't come try to find a friend or a member of your group who can come.

Individuals who aren't affiliated with groups are welcome as well. Every voice counts! *****


  *******

ENDA Launch Party!!!
With a showing of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and FREE GUMMY BEARS!

Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Allen Auditorium ( in the Allen Library) on UW Campus
SOLE (Students Organizing for LGBTQ Equality) is celebrating the Launch of its petition website: www.signonamerica.org.

This website allows you to sign SOLE's ENDA petition to show your support for ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act nation wide!  
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

• In 30 states, an employer may legally fire someone based on his/ her/ hir sexual orientation

• In 38 states an employer may legally fire someone because of his/ her/ hir gender identity or gender expression.

For more information about ENDA visit this link: http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=457

SOLE's last event "Milk & Cookies: A screening of the movie Milk with Cookies" was off the chain with more than 70+ attendees packing the auditorium! Here's another event with fun and even cooler: ACTIVISM! FREE GUMMY BEARS, A MOVIE, AND EQUAL RIGHTS!!!

Come show your support for Equal treatment in the workplace by signing the ENDA petition, watching "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and EATING GUMMY BEARS!!!


3/6/10

VIDEO UW Student Strike Against Budget Cuts, March 4


Student Strike organized by the UW Student-Worker Coalition, of which the ISO is a member, in Conjunction with the March 4 National Day of Protest to Defend Public Education. To protest The University of Washington's massive budget cuts which mean tuition hikes, cuts to financial aid, and overcrowded classrooms for students; as well as layoffs, overwork, dangerous working conditions, furloughs, health care cuts, and union busting for workers.

The speech shown at the end is by Jesse Hagopian, Layed-off Seattle Public School Teacher, founder of Educators, Students, and Parents for a Better Vision of Seattle Schools, and ISO member.

Student-Worker Coalition's demands: (http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/)

1) Transparent and democratic budget allocation
2) Cut from the top administrators; cap all salaries at $150000 per year
3) No layoffs
4) No speed ups (extra work) for workers
5) Accessible public education for all
6) Freeze tuition (no tuition hikes)
7) Replace loans with grants

3/3/10

3/4: Student Strike Against Budget Cuts


March 4th Student Strike Against Budget Cuts
Part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education

1 PM on the Quad at UW-Seattle: Rally and picket lines begin

Facebook Page (invite your friends!):
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=460473880290*

The University of Washington  is facing massive budget cuts which means tuition hikes, cuts to financial aid, and overcrowded classrooms for students.

It means layoffs, overwork, dangerous working conditions, furloughs, health care cuts, and union busting for workers.

On March 4th we will fight back to defend our education and our jobs! Students and workers across the country and around the world will be striking on that day, responding to a call emerging from the mass movement against budget cuts in California. Activists in some California cities are
even organizing to build for city-wide strikes and actions on the 4th!

Here at UW we have tried rallying several times and it hasn't been enough to stop the cuts. It's time we up the ante by showing the legislators in Olympia that there will be no more business as usual on our campus as long as they try to balance the budget at our expense!

It's also time we show Mark Emmert and the Board of Regents that UW is not for sale to corporations. The budget cuts are no excuse for targeting cuts towards custodians and other immigrant workers, working class students, students of color, women, and queer folks. We need to fight to make sure
that UW is open and accessible for ALL people regardless of income!

Strikes are an effective form of struggle and have won concrete victories in California. By walking out of a class students show that this school cannot run without our daily cooperation. We feel our collective power. By setting up picket lines we will try to convince other students to skip class once so
that our classes and our classmates will even be here next year!  We hope this will inspire more people to join the struggle and will be one step among many toward building the kind of mass movement we need to actually stop these cuts.

Workers at UW, community members, and high school students are invited to come join the picket lines with us. If you cannot walk out or strike, try to take an hour or two of vacation time so you can attend. Students will be striking not only for our own demands but for those of workers, high schoolstudents, and anyone else affected by budget cuts!

Washington Federation of State Employees Local 1488 voted to support this strike.  WFSE Local 1488 is the union that represents thousands of workers and staff members at UW and Harborview.  Rank and File WFSE members, especially custodians,  have been at the forefront of the struggle against budget cuts and many will be standing in solidarity with students on the picket lines.  We hope that other workers on campus will also attend.

This action is called by the UW Student - Worker Coalition, an alliance of undergrad, worker, and grad student organizations, of which the ISO is a part, that has come together to fight the cuts.

------------------------------ -------------

Student-Worker Coalition's demands:

1) Transparent and democratic budget allocation
2) Cut from the top administrators; cap all salaries at $150000 per year
3) No layoffs
4) No speed ups (extra work) for workers
5) Accessible public education for all
6) Freeze tuition (no tuition hikes)
7) Replace loans with grants

http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/

NOTE: If there isn't a critical mass of people the strike will only go on for an hour and we'll go back and organize to make sure the next strike is bigger. But if a lot of people show up with energy we'll take a vote at two to see if people want to keep it going longer. So if you want to make this big, invite all your friends, make announcements in your classes, and let's make this happen!

If you want to help organize to make this big, come out to the Student Worker Coalition meeting at 6 PM on Thursday in Suzzallo Cafe and be a partof the action!



In Depth: Fighting for our Schools






Five San Francisco State University students talk about the fight for public education and their building occupation last month.
Barack Obama’s Race to the Top program offers cash-strapped state governments federal money--as long as they agree to attack teachers’ unions.
The bipartisan support for the savage budget cuts in California highlights the need for radicalism, struggle and organization.

and much more here...

3/3: Economic Crisis and Fightback - From Greece to UW

Part 1 -- Economic Crisis and Fightback in Europe -- 35 mins
In the ongoing economic crisis, bankers and the rich have been bailed out while workers have been forced to pay the price. The most recent flashpoint is in Europe where countries burdened with loads of debt, especially Greece, are on the verge of bankruptcy. If a European country goes bankrupt, it would send shockwaves throughout Europe and the rest of the world, potentially leading to another global panic and depression. Workers and students in Europe, however, are organizing, protesting, and fighting back against the demands that they tighten their belts when this is a crisis created by bankers and politicians. Come discuss what's at stake in Europe and the lessons we can learn from working-class resistance there as we start to build movements here against budget cuts and layoffs.

Greece leads Europe's winter of discontent

Greek strike halts transport, people back reform


Part 2 -- Budget Cuts & the Fight to Save Public Education -- 45 mins
March 4 is a national day of strikes and protests across the country to defend public education for students, teachers, faculty, campus workers and members of the community.(http://defendeducation.org/ Here at UW we are protesting the massive budget cuts which means tuition hikes, cuts to financial aid, overcrowded classrooms for students, and layoffs, overwork, dangerous working conditions, and union busting for workers.

In preparation for the March 4th day of action we will be discussing the budget crisis and privatization of education -- from its roots in the neo-liberal reforms beginning in the 1970's to the current day state of the WA budget-- and how we can fight back to win, taking lessons from previous and current struggles in the US and Europe.




DIRE STATES: State and Local Budget Relief Needed to Prevent Job Losses and Ensure a Robust Recovery

For regular updates about the anti-budget cuts struggle at UW, check out: http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/ 


After the formal discussion we will make signs and plan for the following days actions at UW.

3/2/10

3/2: ENDA Now: Fighting for LGBTQ Justice in the Workplace Nationally

Seattle OUT Protest presents an interactive forum on ENDAthe federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act
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ENDA Now:
Fighting for LGBTQ Justice in the Workplace Nationally



Tuesday, March 2, 7:00 pm
Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Avenue, Room TBA

Featuring:
Marsha Botzer is co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She has served on the board of Seattle’s Pride Foundation, is a founding member of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, and is a co-chair of the Seattle chapter of the Safe Schools Coalition. Marsha is a Founding Member of Equal Rights Washington and serves on the boards of Equal Rights Washington and the Equal Rights Washington Education Fund. She founded Seattle's Ingersoll Gender Center and continues to support the Center's work.
Mike Andrew is Secretary-Treasurer of Pride At Work, Martin Luther King County Chapter. Pride At Work is an LGBT labor organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO, but including members of Change to Win and independent unions. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council and Washington State Jobs with Justice, a workers' rights coalition. He is a Staff Writer at Seattle Gay News and a member of the National Writers Union.
Marcy Johnsen is a board member and former co-chair of the national Service Employees International Union Lavender Caucus. A registered nurse, she recently retired from the Department of Social and Health Services after 35 years of caring for people with developmental disabilities and today works for SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.
Su Docekal is a member of Seattle OUTprotest Coalition and the Queer Action Coordinator for the Freedom Socialist Party. She was one of the first women in the Sheet Metal Workers Union apprenticeship program and co-founded the community-based Freedom Day Committee, which sponsored Seattle’s pride marches for twenty years.
Sarah Henderson
Moderated by Kaijson Nolimar


Discuss planning for future grassroots action to pass ENDA.

Agenda
- Introduction by host and moderator (5 minutes)
- Panelists present (30 minutes)
- Q & A and discussion (30 minutes)
- Action Items in small groups: each table will discuss possible action plans to be presented (15 minutes)
- Small groups report back to the entire group and discuss (30 minutes)
- Final Announcements


ENDA expands the protections of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Federal employees currently have no statutory protections against sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination. Only 12 states have laws forbidding both sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination on the job. In 29 states, it is legal to be fired or not hired for being gay or lesbian. In 38 states, it is legal to be fired or not hired for being transgender. Even in states like Washington that have such laws, ENDA would benefit LGBTQ workers, because it would allow the federal Justice Department to investigate and prosecute cases of discrimination.

Seattle OUT Protest is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fighting for equality for the LGBTQ communities. It was formed by young LGBTQ activists to protest notorious homophobe Fred Phelps’ visit to Seattle in June 2009. Seattle OUT Protest then organized the Seattle LGBTQ Equality Weekend, October 10 and 11, and the Referendum 71 Victory Rally on November 14, 2009.


To endorse this event or for more information, email info@seattleoutprotest.org or call 206.612.6139.