Labor war in Longview

November 30, 2011

The small city of Longview in southwestern Washington state is currently ground zero for one of the most militant U.S. labor struggles in decades.
Since May, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 has been escalating the fight in a two-year-plus battle to force the multinational conglomerate EGT Development to honor its contract and use ILWU labor at a new $200 million grain terminal in Longview. This is the first new terminal built on the West Coast in the last 25 years.
In the course of the battle in Longview, ILWU members and their supporters have blocked trains from bringing grain to the terminal and organized mass pickets to disrupt its operations. But the company is taking a hard line. Local 21 is up against multiple global corporations, police and private security, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and another union--Operating Engineers Local 701, which is providing scab labor.
Now, after a series of test runs, EGT is planning to bring in its first ship in mid-December. Separately, the Occupy movement--whose call for a general strike and day of action in Oakland, Calif., on November 2 in protest of vicious police violence shut down that city's massive port--is calling for protests at ports up and down the West Coast on December 12 in defense of the movement and longshore unionists. The ILWU has not endorsed this call.
The Longview struggle is a crucial test for labor and the wider working-class movement. In late November, Darrin Hoop interviewed Local 21 President Dan Coffman and Local 21 Vice President Jake Whiteside. In this excerpt, they about the background and significance of this modern-day labor war--for workers in Washington state and around the country.

ILWU members in Longview have confronted grain shipments headed for the new EGT terminal

COULD YOU tell us how this struggle began?

Dan: It would have been early 2009. When we heard about this elevator being constructed in our community, there were a lot of high expectations. If you look at the paper here from November 2009, it talks about how this elevator is going to create 50 new longshore jobs. The new $200 million project was going to put construction people in this community back to work, and this is when our unemployment rate was pushing right around 15 percent.
As soon as ground construction started with the building of this thing, people realized that local labor was not getting any of this action. What we found out is that Bunge was bringing in every non-union type of company to do this project. The high expectations were soon evaporating right in front of our eyes.
At the same time, the ILWU always felt confident, because we have a working agreement with the port that has been in existence for 70-plus years. We felt confident that we were going to sit down and get an agreement with Bunge.

YOU MENTIONED Bunge--that's the main one of the three corporations that make up EGT, right? The others are Itochu, based in Japan, and STX Pan Ocean, based in South Korea.

Dan: In negotiations, Bunge talked about how it had planned this for five years prior. The terminal is EGT, but if you look at it, the 51 percent controlling partner is Bunge North America, based in New York state. We negotiated for close to 14 months, and we were negotiating throughout the whole thing with Bunge. You never saw an Itochu official at the table. You never saw an STX Pan Ocean person at the table.
Bunge is part of what we call the grain cartel, which is the equivalent of the oil cartel. There's a handful of players in the grain cartel, and Bunge is one of them--along with Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Louis Dreyfus, Gavalon. Actually, if you look at it, they're probably more powerful than the oil cartel, because people have to eat, and they know that.
Itochu is a logistics firm out of Japan that has a lot of trucking and shipping interests. Then the shipping lines company they needed to haul their product was Pan Ocean. What they did was triangulate their corporations to meet all their needs, and it became a partnership.

WHY DID they pick Longview?

Dan: We're a small port. I think they probably thought that being such a small port, they could do what they've done throughout the whole world--they could come in and micromanage not only us, but the community as a whole.
Jake: I think one of the main things about Longview is the geographical location. It's the first place you come to on the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean. We're set up with a rail system. I-5 is right there. None of that is a coincidence. It was definitely orchestrated, almost brilliantly.

WHAT WERE the key issues during negotiations?

Dan: The two sticking points were straight-time pay and who was in the master console room. They wanted two 12-hour shifts for a 24-hour period. And during that 12 hours a day, they didn't want any of that to be overtime. It was going to be straight time only.
The other big sticking point was that, in a grain elevator, they have what they call the master console. He controls the flow of grain throughout that facility. Bunge didn't want any union member in that control room. We told them we don't care if you have 50 supervisors in there, there needs to be one longshoreman. We don't take orders from a supervisor. We needed that buffer between management and labor.
In the beginning, they offered us a total of three jobs in the whole facility. We finally got them to up that to four when we asked for a lead man or a general foreman. On top of that, there'd be a need for two millwrights and one electrician, for a total of seven jobs.
We started our negotiations on January 20, 2010 in Portland, Ore. We broke off negotiations, I believe, at the end of February of 2011. During our negotiations, they weren't willing to budge on one thing. I didn't call them negotiations--I called them dictations--dictations by three giant conglomerates that wanted it all their way.

WHAT IS the significance of this new terminal?

Dan: This new elevator is going to pour 40 percent faster than the last one that was built on the West Coast and have about a 30 to 40 percent decrease in the labor needed to operate this facility.
If you can imagine a Panamax ship being loaded in about a 24-hour period, that's basically unheard of. You're talking 50,000 to 60,000 metric tons of whatever product being loaded in over a 24-hour or less period. That's huge volumes at super-fast speeds. These people are recreating the playing field for the grain industry.
This new elevator is going to meet their needs logistically to supply them with an easier route to get their product to Southeast Asia and Japan. They had to set up an elevator on the West Coast to achieve that.

Updates from Occupy Olympia

On Monday, November 28th unionists, Occupiers and activists from around the state will converge on Olympia to challenge the $2 billion cuts the legislature is set to begin during their special session.

Follow us on twitter @SeattleISO for on-the-ground updates and photos!

Time to Occupy the Capitol

If the legislature wants to cut from the 99 percent, there will be no business as usual. It's time to Occupy the Capitol on November 28!

Chris Mobley reports on Occupy activists' plans to challenge more budget cuts.

November 23, 2011

www.socialistworker.org

OCCUPY ACTIVISTS in Washington state are gearing up for the next stage in our struggle: Occupy the Capitol to oppose another round of budget cuts.

Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire has called for a special session of the state legislature to cut an additional $2 billion out of the state budget. At a recent press conference, Gregoire even admitted, "We have shredded our social safety net."

This move comes on top of $10 billion in state budget cuts over the last three years, which have resulted in furloughs and layoffs for state employees, a 47 percent increase in tuition at public universities, the gutting of social and health services, and many other attacks on the basic quality of life for the 99 percent of Washington.

What effect will this round of cuts have? Here is what has been proposed:
-- Some 13,000 legal immigrants would be cut from the state's food assistance program--their only source of food aid because they are ineligible for federal food assistance.
-- About 35,000 people would be kicked off the Basic Health Plan, ending a program that subsidizes health care for poor.
-- Another 21,000 people enrolled in the state's Disability Lifeline and ADATSA (Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Treatment Support Act) programs would have their medical services cut off.
-- Two wards at Western State Hospital would be closed. These currently serve 52 patients with conditions such as traumatic brain injury or dementia.
-- Foster care, juvenile rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment programs would be slashed by $118 million.
-- A levy equalization program that helps school districts with a poor property tax base will lose half its funding, for a total of $150 million. This will dramatically increase class sizes in affected districts and could shorten the school year.
-- The budget for state colleges and universities will lose another $225 million.
-- Funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs will drop by $240,000.
-- The nuclear waste site cleanup program at Hanford--the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation--will lose $581,000.
-- The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, the agency responsible for issuing budget forecasts, will be cut by $94,000. The agency warned Gregoire that a "10 percent cut will eliminate our agency, because we will not have the rudimentary necessities to fulfill our core mission."

ON NOVEMBER 21, in response to mounting pressure from social services providers, unions and the threat of a Madison-style occupation of the state Capitol, Gregoire proposed an emergency revenue measure--something she hasn't done before during three-year-long budget crisis. Her proposal would raise $550 million by increasing the state's regressive sales tax by half a cent. This would require voter approval in a special spring 2012 election.

The $550 million this measure would rise is not only a drop in the bucket relative to the $10 billion in cuts to the state budget, but it further adds to the tax burden on those who would be most affected by the cuts--Washington's poor and working class.

Because the state has no income tax system, Washington relies on regressive sales and property taxes to meet its budget needs. A study by the Sightline Institute ranks Washington dead last in tax fairness. According to the study, the bottom 20 percent of income earners pay 17.3 percent of their income in taxes of various kinds, whereas the top 1 percent of income earners pay just 2.6 percent in taxes.

The state government does have progressive funding sources at its disposal, but it refuses to use them.

Each year, the state gives away $6.5 billion via tax loopholes, mostly to big business. Washington-based Microsoft received $143 million last year in special tax breaks, and aircraft maker Boeing got $104 million. JPMorgan Chase, which took over Washington Mutual in 2008, continues to receive a $120 million tax break on interest collected on first-time mortgages. There are also loopholes for cosmetic surgery ($6.25 million this year) and private jet enthusiasts ($5 million this year).

Another option for the legislature is to tax the rich. Last year, voters rejected Initiative 1098, which would have imposed a 5 percent income tax rate on individual incomes over $200,000 per year and a 9 percent rate on incomes over $500,000 per year. It would have raised $2 billion annually to fund education and health care.

The legislature could pass such a measure outright with a two-thirds majority, or it could put the proposal on the ballot again with a simple majority vote. As the effects of the budget crisis and the worsening economy hammer away at people, voters may be in a different mood than 2010.
Instead, lawmakers have hid behind Initiative 1053, pushed by right-wing hack Tim Eyman. I-1053, which was passed by voters in 2010, requires the state legislature obtain a two-thirds super-majority to increase taxes. Many prominent legal scholars argue that I-1053 is unconstitutional, but lawmakers have yet to challenge it.

What makes this year's budget battle different is the impact of the Occupy movement. Thousands of people in Washington state have marched, protested, camped and organized. The November 28 demonstration is built around the hope that these thousands will join join public-sector workers, students and the poor in standing up for the 99 perent.

Unions and student groups are renting buses to transport people to the capitol of Olympia on November 28, when the special session begins. Acts of civil disobedience are being planned, and activists from all of the state's Occupy encampments have pledged to take over the Capitol building in protest of the cuts.

If the legislature wants to cut from the 99 percent, there will be no business as usual. It's time to Occupy the Capitol on November 28!

What you can do

For more information on the plans for the November 28 demonstration, visit the Occupy the Capitol and Occupy Olympia websites.

UW meetings & events through the end of Nov

Hello UW folks  -- with midterms and Thanksgiving coming up and several special events we won't be holding our regualr Thursday meetings until the end of the month. There's plenty going on so please join us at these upcoming events:

WED 11/16 7-8:30pm, Gowen Hall 301
Join us for our yearly Debate with between the ISO, the Young Democrats, the College Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty (libertarians)!  

 
The topic of discussion will be the Obama administration's proposed jobs plan.
Info and RSVP on facebook

SAT & SUN 11/19-20

Northwest Marxism Conference in Portland!
With workshops on:

• Why Marx Was Right
• No Power Greater: Marxism and the Centrality of Class
• The Roots of Racial Oppression
• The Minneapolis Teamster Strike: A Case Study in Working Class Power
• Theories of Womens' Oppression
• Workers' Democracy: A Society Worth Fighting For  
• Sexuality & Socialism
• Capitalism in Crisis: A Marxist Analysis of the Current Economic Situation 

RSVP on facebook   Check out the full schedule and register online
Interested? Need a ride? Email info@seattleiso.org to carpool with us.

MON 11/28

Occupy The Capitol! Stop Cuts, Make the 1% Pay!
Supporters and occupiers of Washington State, Unite to protest at the start of the special legislative session pushing $2.7 billion more in deadly budget cuts.

Info and RSVP on facebook  Email  info@seattleiso.org to carpool with us.

We'll resume normal meeting on Thursday December 1st!

This weekend! NW Marxism Conference

Spots still available!

Saturday and Sunday, Nov 19-20  
Portland State University

RSVP on facebook
Conference Website 

Interested? Need a ride? Email info@seattleiso.org to carpool with Seattle area activists!

Capitalism isn't working. Socialism is the alternative—a world organized for human need, not profit, where resources are controlled by and for the vast majority, instead of by a tiny rich minority. Real change depends on struggle and action by our side.

The recent revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have inspired struggles against injustice and austerity across the globe. Massive demonstrations have erupted across Greece, Spain, Britain - and most recently, the United States - occupying public squares and capital buildings in defiance of cuts in social services and workers' standards of living promoted by their governments.

Capitalism has never operated according to the interests of the majority of people. It has always been a system of exploitation and oppression that benefits only the wealthy and powerful. The struggles against austerity and oppression that have emerged in 2011 show that a fightback is possible, and that ordinary people can change society for the better. It's an excellent time to fight for a better world, a world free from the misery of capitalism. Join us and help build a REAL future for workers and students everywhere!

The Northwest Marxism Conference is one of many regional Marxism conferences nationwide that are dedicated to arming a new generation of activists and organizers with arguments and ideas for a revolutionary socialist alternative, learning our history of rebellion and resistance, and discussing strategies for building organization and winning struggles for real change.

Full schedule, registration and more information at the conference website!

11/7: Strikes and Occupations: A Radical History of Seattle's 99%

 Join the UW ISO for this Forum & Discussion

Monday 11/7

7-9pm, Savery Hall 132

RSVP on Facebook and Like our New UW ISO page

We are the 99%! The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to over 1,000 cities in the U.S. and around the globe. Millions are discussing why this movement is important, what it's demands are and how to build it bigger. But Occupy Seattle is only the latest in an incredible history of radical struggle in Seattle.

In 1919 a General Strike of 100,000 workers saw workers run the city for 5 days. Sit-ins led to the formation of the Black Student Union at the UW in 1969. Protests against the WTO rocked the city for a week in 1999.

Join us for a discussion on what lessons we can learn today from the history of strikes and occupations throughout Seattle's radical past.

11/3: John Carlos & Dave Zirin

Instead of our normal Thursday UW & City branch meetings we'll be going to
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World
Discussion & Book Signing

Thursday 11/3. 7pm

Northwest African American Museum

2300 S Massachusetts St.Seattle 98144

Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympic podium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic images of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men behind the salute, lifelong activist, John Carlos.

Join John Carlos and his co-author, Nation sports editor Dave Zirin, for a book discussion and signing to celebrate the release of "The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World."


Please purchase tickets though CD Forum at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/205183 Tickets are $10 each regular and $8 if you use discount code: NAAMCARLOS
 
Check out this great video: John Carlos & Dave Zirin Speak at Occupy Chicago



For more information, please contact:
Brian J. Carter | 206-518-6000 x 103 | bcarter@naamnw.org

11/2: Student Walkout in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland & Protest against Jamie Dimon CEO of JP Morgan Chase

There is a lot of #Occupy action happening this Wed 11/2

12pm UW Student Walkout in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland
The Occupy Oakland general assembly has put out a call for a General Strike on November 2ccupy Oakland & Protest against Jamie Dimon CEO of to protest the brutal crackdown by cops against their movement. From Atlanta, to Chicago and now Oakland, the police are using brute force to attempt to shut down encampments. If they get away with using force to shut down Occupy Oakland, this will give the green light for the same kind of brutality to be used all over the U.S. with the same goal. We are all Oakland! Let's show them the power of the 99% standing in solidarity!

12pm - Meeting at Red Square for a speakout. Then we'll march/bus to SCCC for a rally with students and Occupy Seattle

RSVP on Facebook

Protest Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, speaking at UW Business School event
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase will be visiting Seattle, speaking at the downtown Sheraton at a UW school of business event.Yes – this is the same Jamie Dimon that called foreclosures “debt relief.” The same Jamie Dimon that called banking regulations “un-American.” The same Jamie Dimon that raked in $10,000 per hour while too many Washingtonians don’t even have jobs. The same Jamie Dimon whose company Chase helps themselves to a piece of an $86 million tax loophole and to millions from an EBT contract with the state, while we face $2 billion in budget cuts. That Jamie Dimon is coming to our city at the request of the UW Business school!

Let's show him (and the UW Business school)  what Seattle really thinks of banksters like him! We'll be taking on Dimon with 2 awesome events.

1pm: Meet at Seattle Central Community College - 1 hour speak out.
2pm: March and action at a major Chase Branch.
6pm: Meet at Westlake Park march to the Sheraton where Mr. Dimon will be speaking.

This is the perfect chance to strike back against the 1% so please join us and invite all of your friends to this Facebook event! We’re going to let Jamie Dimon know that the 99% isn’t going to stand by while greedy big banks continue to wreck our economy. That it’s time for the mega-rich to pay their fair share so our country can invest in Jobs, not cuts.

10/29 Occupy Seattle Teach-in: Another World is Possible! What Is Socialism and How Do We Get There?

SAT, Oct 29
4-5pm
Occupy Seattle, Westlake Park

RSVP on facebook

How do we get to a world were the 1% doesn't dominate the economy and the political debate?

As socialists we believe in the self-emancipation of the working class from the bonds of capitalism. We must organize to get to that type of world! But how? And who has the power to change society? And how do we overcome the obstacles that keep us divided?

Join us for a teach-in on why socialism. Bring your questions, bring your debates and bring your ideas!

An Occupy Seattle teach-in. For more info on other Occupy Seattle events check their calendar.

10/29 Teach CHASE a Lesson!

*UPDATED*

"Teach CHASE a Lesson"Occupy Seattle day of action!



Saturday, October 29th
12 PM
Westlake Plaza (on 4th Ave. between Pine and Pike)

UPDATE: Facebook event now up: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=268835849822528

"There is a lot of money washing around the world, and obviously we are the beneficiary of that,"
CHASE CEO Jamie Dimon this April

CHASE Bank has profited through the recession that it had a big part in causing and was able to compensate Mr. Dimon, to the tune of $20.8 million dollars last year.

CHASE pays no state taxes on its in-state mortgage interest income. This loophole was created for Washington State based WAMU, but since the “housing bubble” lending binge that crashed our economy and bankrupted WAMU, it now benefits Chase and other banks. Their fair share would add nearly $100 million per year to our State’s sorely strapped budget.

CHASE acquired billions of dollars during the bailout at a near-zero % interest rate, money that they are now loaning back to the U.S. Treasury at a rate 12 times higher. They are taking more money from taxpayers, rather than investing to create jobs.

Teachers in Seattle are facing layoffs as the legislature struggles to cover its $5 billion + budget shortfall. In addition, Seattle teachers have seen their pay cut by 1.9%.

Cuts to bus routs, healthcare, homeless shelters, and other social services have made the lives of 99% of the population more difficult.

This is not a spending crisis. It’s a revenue crisis that is caused when entities like CHASE pay little to no taxes on their vast fortunes. The money to pay for social services is there. Teachers, other public employees, and the 99% are not the cause of the crisis, and should not pay for it!

Sponsored by Occupy Seattle, the Social Equality Educators (SEE) and the Seattle International Socialist Organization.

10/27: UW Branch Meeting Agenda

The UW Branch will meet 
THURS 7-9pm, Savery Hall 130
(If you're looking for the city branch meeting click here)



This Week's Agenda:

1. Meaning of Marxism Discussion, One hour
Chapter Four "How Capitalism Works and How it Doesn't" on Marxist Economics.

2. Branch details--40 minutes
a.) Update on RSO registration process.
b.) Next public meeting? If we want to do it, how should we build it?
c.) Quick update on Occupy UW organizing.
d.) How do we want to set up future branch meetings?
e.) branch roles (who is doing what? are we missing anything?)


3. NW Marxism Conference  -- 20 mins
This year's NW Marxism Conference will be THE place for progressives, socialists and activists to debate and discuss. Occupy movements have roared to life in cities and towns across the US. In order to build the movement bigger and stronger we must learn lessons from other cities and share our own. We must also deepen our political understanding of the economy, the state and the power of the working class to build a new society. We'll discuss political and logistical preparation for the conference, happening in Portland, OR.

Full schedule, registration and more information at the conference website.

10/27 City Meeting Agenda

Thurs, Oct 27
7-9PM
SCCC Atrium
(1701 Broadway, at Pine St.)

Looking for a UW meeting? Click here

Occupy Seattle Updates, Logistics and Next Steps
Occupy Seattle, and Occupy movements around the country continue to grow and develop, but also run against real challenges. Last night, activists and demonstrators were attacked in Oakland, CA by police, who shot tear gas and rubber bullets. Earlier this week, Occupy Seattle voted to move the encampment to Seattle Central Community College this weekend. In Boston, activists with Occupy the Hood held an important demonstration the explicitly linked Occupy Boston with communities of color and took a stance against racism and police brutality.

Come discuss the latest in the movement! We will also discuss plans for the CHASE bank action and our Occupy Seattle teach-in on Saturday.

Read more:
How the 1 percent rules
Reports of Occupy Everywhere
Socialist Worker coverage of Occupy Everywhere

NW Marxism Conference
This year's NW Marxism Conference will be THE place for progressives, socialists and activists to debate and discuss. Occupy movements have roared to life in cities and towns across the US. In order to build the movement bigger and stronger we must learn lessons from other cities and share our own. We must also deepen our political understanding of the economy, the state and the power of the working class to build a new society. We'll discuss political and logistical preparation for the conference, happening in Portland, OR.

Full schedule, registration and more information at the conference website.

10/20: City Meeting Agenda

Thurs, Oct 20
7-9pm
SCCC Atrium
(1701 Broadway, at Pine St.)

Looking for a UW meeting? Click here

Socialists and Movements
The Occupy movements continue to grow, giving activists progressive stripes new energy. As socialists, this is exactly what we have been waiting for, what we always knew was possible and now we're seeing unfold before our eyes-- masses or ordinary people standing up, speaking out, and organizing on a scale we haven't seen in many years, and it is only growing and spreading (now on a global scale!). But how do socialists relate to movements that don't have specifically revolutionary demands? What is the relationship between reforms and revolution? And why would socialists, who explicitly want to overthrow capitalism, fight for reforms in the here and now?

Come join a discussion on the role of socialists in movements, what we have to learn from the movement and what socialists and radicals can contribute.

Read more:
Socialists and movements

Occupy Seattle Nuts and Bolts Organizing
The Occupy Seattle movement is fluid and changes daily. As the ISO, we aim to be there, supporting and building the movement. Bring your ideas as we discuss ways to strength the politics and connections of the movement!

Read more:
Occupy goes global
The Stranger coverage of Occupy Seattle

Socialist Worker coverage updated daily!

PTA needs to do their homework on Democracy, Go to an Occupation

Seattle Teachers at Occupy Seattle, Photo by Rachel Wilsey

Dan Trocolli
Seattle Teacher and member of Social Equality Educators and the Seattle International Socialist Organization

I started my Saturday morning going to the Washington State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Legislative Assembly to assist parents in Parents Across America-Seattle, an activist group of parents, in opposing charter school legislation in Washington. It wasn’t easy waking up at 6am on a Saturday, but I knew it was important that people know the negative effect that charter schools can have on our public schools.

As a teacher, one would think that parents in the PTA, would be very interested in hearing from teachers about significant changes to Washington laws on delivering a public education to their children, particularly given the well known fact that teachers are underrepresented in PTA’s all over. Imagine my shock when approaching a group of parents in the hotel lobby with flyers only to have one woman tear the stack of flyers out of my hand in a completely hysterical rage as well as another teacher.

I wanted to let delegates in the PTA know how charters have a higher teacher turnover, unfairly exclude underperforming students and siphon money from other public schools. However, we were unable to continue handing out flyers and talking to parents about a teachers’ perspective on charter schools. The president, vice president and executive director of the state PTA all tried to assure us that they would consider approving the flyer for distribution. Never mind that the debate and vote was set to occur in mere minutes.

Turns out the vote to support legislation in Washington for the creation of charter schools passed by a mere 9 votes, despite the PTA’s own survey of members that found a majority opposed to bringing charters to Washington. In fact the influence of corporate, pro-charter forces, such as Stand with Children, at the top of the PTA have such a hold that the organization did not give delegates any information critical of charters at all.

The outcome was a difficult to face given the attacks on public education these days. However, my disappointment was short lived as I made my way to Occupy Seattle. There was an immediate contrast of the undemocratic repression I experienced at the PTA convention with the people’s democracy of the occupation’s rally and march.
The rally at Westlake Park, part of an international day of action in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, was already in the thousands when I got there. Teachers in the Social Equality Educators (SEE), a rank and file group of educators in Seattle, gathered in a contingent. We had a table with a sign-up for union members and labor supporters of the occupation. We displayed our banner, “Bail out Schools, Not the Banks!” and answered questions of protestors visiting our table.

There were people discussing all sorts of political questions all over the square, including, among other things, charter schools. Various groups had tables where they distributed all sorts of propaganda on issues like corporate greed, the war in Afghanistan and socialism. And individual protestors had many myriad homemade signs raising many social issues as well.
But this was just the beginning. On the march protestors stopped and occupied for some moments the Pike Place Market intersection. When an ambulance neared unable to get through, protestors needed no instructions and immediately parted to let them through chanting, “This is what Democracy looks like.”

When the march neared the plaza, SEE members organized an impromptu sit-in in front of the CHASE bank across the street. Thousands sat in the street, the sidewalks and the plaza listening as teachers and community members sounded off on corporate greed and what it will take to curtail it.

Later protestors re-occupied Westlake Park with over a hundred tents. The sense that it is possible to make the change we want to see in the world was palpable and that solidarity with one another is key in making that change happen. Most people coming to the occupations have a healthy rejection of free market, corporate driven solutions to public ills such as charter schools.
Like the Occupiers, most teachers recognize the undue influence of the uber-wealthy 1% on school reforms such as charter schools and merit pay. It’s these changing winds that might be frustrating the angry woman from the PTA.

The PTA should take a lesson and hold their Legislative Assembly down at Westlake Park. They may learn a thing or two from the other 99% about democracy and what’s needed to improve public education.

First published at Seattle Education

10/20: UW Meeting Agenda

The UW Branch will meet 
THURS 7-9pm, Savery Hall 130
(If you're looking for the city branch meeting click here)



This Week's Agenda:

1. Club details 10 mins

• RSO and ECC registration club registration
• Tabling schedule

2. Meaning of Marxism Discussion, 40 mins
Chapter Three "The Marxist View of History"

3. Occupy Movement Discussion, 35 mins

Last week we voted to discuss the following article on labor participation on the Occupy Movement:
Same struggle, same fight

4. Northwest Socialist Conference - 5 mins
Sat Nov 19th, we'll be heading down to portland for the Northwest Socialist conference, one of six regional socialist conferences nationwide that are dedicated to arming a new generation of rebels, activists and organizers with arguments and ideas for a revolutionary socialist alternative, learning our history of rebellion and resistance, and discussing strategies for building organization and winning struggles for real change. Check out all the conference details here

5. Next week's agenda - 5 mins

Occupy Seattle Video and Photos

Great Video of Jesse Hagopian Speaking at Occupy Seattle this past Saturday.

Jesse Hagopian at OccupySeattle from Elliot Stoller on Vimeo.

And check out photos albums on our facebook page
we've got albums up from the past two weeks, Oct 5th, Oct10th and Oct 15th.

10/13 UW meeting: The Meaning Of Marxism, Occupy Seattle & Fall Plans

The UW Branch will meet 
THURS 7-9pm, Savery Hall 130
(If you're looking for the city branch meeting click here)

1. For the First part of our meeting, we’ll discuss the Introduction and first two chapters of The Meaning of Marxism by Paul D’Amato (26 pages total)

• Intro: The Relevance of Marxism
• Ch 1: From Millenarianism to Marx
• Ch 2: Marx’s Materialist Method

So pick up the book and join the discussion! If you need a copy of the book please contact us isouw@uw.edu

2. Occupy Seattle -- After our political discussion we’ll discuss developments in the Occupy Seattle movement, including Wed’s student walkout as well as next steps.

3. Brainstorm activities, meetings, actions etc that we may want to do this quarter!  Bring your ideas about things you want to learn, how we can spread the word on campus, and what social-justice campaigns we should to get involved in.

10/13 City Meeting: Occupy Seattle & Fall Organizing

The City branch will meet

THURS, Oct 13

7-9pm

SCCC Cafeteria

(1701 Broadway, at Pine St.)

Looking for a UW meeting? Click here

Occupy Seattle: Report Back and Looking Ahead

The Occupy Wall St action has become a national movement. In dozens of cities activists have camped out protesting the social inequality in this country. Spurred on by class anger, people are organizing and taking action against the richest 1%. We will discuss the latest in on-going struggles locally and nationally, and how to build the strongest movement possible.

Read more:

Support for Occupy Seattle Swells

Stepping up the struggle

Autonomy Zone on Wall St?

Fall Organizing Perspectives

In light of so much going on and exciting opportunities for activism, we will discuss the structure and organization of the branch.

10/10/11

Support for Occupy Seattle Swells

10/10/11 
Story by Sam Bernstein

SEATTLE -- Occupy Seattle received a major boost on Saturday as supporters from the community and organized labor came out for a large rally and march in Westlake Plaza, the site of the ongoing encampment.

Following an antiwar rally Friday evening that brought hundreds out to mark the 10th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan, the Saturday rally brought thousands more out to show their solidarity and check out the Occupy Seattle encampment--most of them for the first time.

The rally was planned months in advance to commemorate Indigenous Peoples' Day, but as soon as Occupy Seattle sprung up, organizers opened it up to the Occupy Seattle movement. As labor unions and community groups began endorsing Occupy Seattle, they made this rally the first focal point for mobilizing their memberships in support of Occupy Seattle.

SEIU Local 925, representing 23,000 workers in Washington State--mostly at the University of Washington, sent an email to their entire membership urging them to get involved. "These courageous young activists have given us all a shot of inspiration and hope that we can indeed turn this country around," they wrote. The King County Labor Council also urged its 75,000 members to participate.

"Labor organizations have a huge responsibility in stepping up and helping out people that don't have a voice," Pedro Espinoza, a member of the carpenters union, told Q13 Fox News.

Read more »

Occupy Movement - What's the message?

The mainstream media cant stop repeating the same talking point "what's the message?" "There's no message?" etc.. Well in this fabulous video, P.J. O'Rourke gets his ass handed to him by Alan Grayson who articulates is brilliantly!

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)