As the ISO has grown to three branches we've upgraded to a new website, please find the Puget Sound District of the ISO at www.pugetsoundsocialists.org
There you can check out our Blog for news and opinions, find information about Events & Meetings in Seattle, UW and Everett, and Get Involved in a branch near you!
We'll leave this site up as an archive of past meetings and blog entries, but will no longer be updating it
2/14/12
2/8/12
2/9 City Meeting: A Victory for Women's Rights! What's Next After Komen?
THURS, Feb 97-9pm
The Summit
420 E Pike St (map)
Enter on the west side of Summit Ave between E Pike and E Pine St
RSVP on facebook
What's Next After Komen? An Activist Panel Discussion
After last week's surge of support for Planned Parenthood forced Komen to amend their policy, women's rights supporters have every reason to claim victory. Is this a turning point in the war on women? Reproductive rights and gender equality activists will discuss what comes next!
Panel featuring
Liz Fawthrop: Member of the Seattle International Socialist Organization and one of the founding members of Seattle Clinic Defense
Kristin Moon: Member of the Occupy Seattle Gender Equality Caucus
Read more:
Komen's Race to the Right
Co-sponsored by Seattle Clinic Defense and Occupy Seattle Gender Equality Caucus.
1/31/12
2/2: City Branch Meeting
(Photo Credit)
THURS, Feb 2
7-9 PM
The Summit
420 E Pike St
Enter on the west side of Summit Ave, between E Pike and E Pine Sts
Egypt's Unfinished Revolution
Jan 25 of this year-- one year after the massive day of demonstrations that ultimately led to the fall of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak-- Cairo's Tahrir square was once again the site of massive protest. While Mubarak is gone, Egyptians continue to face economic injustice and harsh repression at the hands of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Discuss the latest developments and implications for the future of Egypt.
Read more
Solidarity with Egypt's revolution
Egyptians are hungry for dignity
Power and wealth to the people
Fundraising
In December we voted to raise a total of $8000 as a district for the Center for Economic Research and Social Change's annual fund drive. CERSC is the publisher of Haymarket Books and the International Socialist Review, invaluable resources for arming a new generation of activists with ideas to change the world. We'll discuss where we're at with our fundraising goals.
Read more
An appeal from Haymarket Books
Police Brutality Update
Report on latest developments and plans for building community organizing meetings/ study groups on The New Jim Crow.
1/26/12
1/26: Reform or Revolution Educational Meeting UPDATED LOCATION
7-9PM
UPDATE: Univ of Washington Thomson Hall Room 211 (campus map)
RSVP on facebook
Written by German socialist, Rosa Luxemburg, in 1900, Reform or Revolution discusses the relationship between reforms under capitalism and the revolutionary goal of a new economic and social order. As socialists, we support both! The Occupy movement raises questions about what's next and the question of the role of movement demands. Join us for this exciting and timely discussion!
While reading the book is strongly encouraged, it is not necessary to join in the discussion.
The book is available online through the Marxist Internet Archive or for purchase from Haymarket Books.
1/19/12
1/19 City Meeting Cancelled
Due to the weather, we have decided to cancel tonight's meeting.
Stay warm and safe!
Stay warm and safe!
The solidarity we need for Longview
By Sam Bernstein, Dan Trocolli and Darrin Hoop
Originally published at socialistworker.org
LONGSHORE WORKERS in the small city of Longview, Wash., are in a life-or-death struggle for their livelihoods and community against multinational conglomerate EGT Development.
The 200 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 have been escalating their struggle to force EGT--an international consortium of several Fortune 500 companies that has built a new $200 million state-of-the-art grain terminal in Longview--to honor a nearly 90-year-old commitment to union longshore labor working the West Coast ports.
In the course of the struggle, ILWU members and their supporters have organized mass pickets of hundreds to block trains from bringing grain to the terminal. The union rightly maintains that it is protected by the First Amendment right to protest on public, port-owned property.
The company and the state have taken a hard line. Local 21 is up against multiple global corporations, heavily militarized police and private security, the National Labor Relations Board, and another union--Operating Engineers Local 701--which is providing scab labor. Some 75 of Local 21's members have been arrested. The local has been fined more than $300,000. Its members have faced injunctions, pepper spray and relentless police harassment and brutality.
As the date for the first operational ship to be loaded at the EGT terminal nears, labor and Occupy activists are planning for mass protests in Longview. The rise of the Occupy movement has provided a perfect opportunity for wide layers of working people to mobilize in support of, and in solidarity with, Local 21 and their struggle.
On January 2, the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Counties Central Labor Council--the umbrella union body for the Longview area--adopted a resolution calling for "friends of labor and the '99 percent' everywhere to come to the aid of ILWU Local 21, and to support them in any way possible in their fight against multinational conglomerate EGT." The labor council call requests "that anyone willing to participate in a community and labor protest in Longview, Washington, of the first EGT grain ship do so when called upon by this body."
The following day, ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who was arrested last September as part of a protest that blocked a train headed to the terminal, issued a letter calling for action when the ship arrives: He wrote:
However, a minority of Occupy activists are putting this potential unity in jeopardy through attitudes and tactics that are hostile to the ILWU and organized labor. This came to dramatic head at a Longview solidarity meeting held in Seattle on January 6.
Originally published at socialistworker.org
LONGSHORE WORKERS in the small city of Longview, Wash., are in a life-or-death struggle for their livelihoods and community against multinational conglomerate EGT Development.
The 200 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 have been escalating their struggle to force EGT--an international consortium of several Fortune 500 companies that has built a new $200 million state-of-the-art grain terminal in Longview--to honor a nearly 90-year-old commitment to union longshore labor working the West Coast ports.
In the course of the struggle, ILWU members and their supporters have organized mass pickets of hundreds to block trains from bringing grain to the terminal. The union rightly maintains that it is protected by the First Amendment right to protest on public, port-owned property.
The company and the state have taken a hard line. Local 21 is up against multiple global corporations, heavily militarized police and private security, the National Labor Relations Board, and another union--Operating Engineers Local 701--which is providing scab labor. Some 75 of Local 21's members have been arrested. The local has been fined more than $300,000. Its members have faced injunctions, pepper spray and relentless police harassment and brutality.
As the date for the first operational ship to be loaded at the EGT terminal nears, labor and Occupy activists are planning for mass protests in Longview. The rise of the Occupy movement has provided a perfect opportunity for wide layers of working people to mobilize in support of, and in solidarity with, Local 21 and their struggle.
On January 2, the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Counties Central Labor Council--the umbrella union body for the Longview area--adopted a resolution calling for "friends of labor and the '99 percent' everywhere to come to the aid of ILWU Local 21, and to support them in any way possible in their fight against multinational conglomerate EGT." The labor council call requests "that anyone willing to participate in a community and labor protest in Longview, Washington, of the first EGT grain ship do so when called upon by this body."
The following day, ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who was arrested last September as part of a protest that blocked a train headed to the terminal, issued a letter calling for action when the ship arrives: He wrote:
When the time comes, [we will] publicize action that supporters of the ILWU can take to advance the cause against EGT and protest government collusion to protect commerce at the expense of workers and community...We welcome outside support for our efforts against EGT.Occupy activists up and down the West Coast have responded to the call for solidarity and are in the midst of preparing for caravans to Longview when the first ship comes in.
However, a minority of Occupy activists are putting this potential unity in jeopardy through attitudes and tactics that are hostile to the ILWU and organized labor. This came to dramatic head at a Longview solidarity meeting held in Seattle on January 6.
1/14/12
UW The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx Series
Join the UW ISO for our series of talks and discussions about the revolutionary economic and political ideas of one of the world's most controversial and influential philosophers.
The discussions will take place in Thomson 211 at UW on the following dates:
January 12th 5:30PM - Socialism Not Capitalism: Capitalism is a system set up by and one that benefits the 1%. Socialism is a society based on workers collectively owning and controlling the wealth their labor creates.
January 26th 7:00PM - Reform or Revolution: We support reforms to improve our lives under capitalism, but they won't end inequalities. Capitalism must be replaced by a democratic workers state based on councils of workers delegates.
February 9th 5:30PM - Worker's Power: Workers of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!" Socialism is working class self-emancipation. Only mass struggles of workers can put an end to capitalism.
February 23rd 7:00PM - Equality and Liberation: Capitalism divides the working class based on sexual, gender, racial and other distinctions. The liberation of the oppressed is essential to socialist revolution and impossible without it.
March 1st 5:30PM - Revolutionary Party: To achieve socialism, the most militant workers and students must be organized into a revolutionary socialist party. The ISO is committed to playing a role in laying the foundations for such a party.
1/12/12
1/12: City Meeting
THURS, Jan 12
7-9PM
The Summit
420 E Pike St (map)
Enter on the west side of Summit Ave, between E Pike and E Pine Sts
Looking for a UW Meeting? Click here.
How do we build solidarity between labor and occupy?
We have a historic opportunity to connect the occupy movement with the crucial labor struggle of ILWU Local 21. Discuss local developments and the debates that have arisen among activists in the course of building solidarity here in Seattle.
Read more:
Take a stand for the ILWU
Longview's call for solidarity
Tactics and the port shutdown
Uniting to resist the employer's attacks
Branch Organization Discussion
With new and exciting opportunities for organizing in the new year, we'll discuss branch organizing priorities and areas of work.
Police Brutality Work Update
An update on the latest plans for the upcoming protest demanding Police Chief Diaz resign Saturday, January 14.
RSVP to event on facebook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)