People Before Profit blog

Could the DREAM Act have saved Joaquin Luna's life?

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:30:00 +0000

The recent passage of anti-immigrant state laws on top of the constant immigration hate rhetoric in the news and across the airwaves were just too much for Joaquin Luna to bear. The hope that immigration reform would pass in Washington never happened. He could have benefited from the DREAM Act, but it failed to pass. It was all too disappointing and he had enough. He could no longer stomach a life that constantly judged him by his undocumented status rather than his character. The tremendous barriers limiting his educational opportunities, career path and dreams had taken a heavy toll on him.

The emotional burden peaked for Luna on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving. Luna put on his best suit, white shirt and black tie. He kissed his family members for the last time. He went into the bathroom with a handgun and took his own life. He was only 18.

Luna was a senior at Juarez Lincoln High School in Mission, Texas, where he lived. He came to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents and five siblings when he was six years old. He spoke fluent English and was an excellent student. He dreamed of going to college and becoming an engineer. The U.S. was the only place he considered home.

Over the years Luna became distressed with heated immigration debate taking place across the country. He grew more and more anxious about his legal status. He couldn't stand questions on college and job applications asking him about his citizenship or for a Social Security number he didn't have. He would frequently talk about it with friends and family, saying even if he graduated from college the chances of a good job afterwards were limited. He grew increasingly frustrated.

His family said Luna followed politics closely, reading newspapers about the harsh anti-immigrant laws passed in Alabama and Arizona.

"He got angry," said his older brother Carlos Mendoza to The Guardian. "He said the people passing these laws had no heart: 'How could they leave so many kids without parents and destroy so many lives?'"

Mendoza said his younger brother was very let down after the DREAM Act failed to pass in Congress. The measure would have given undocumented youth a path toward citizenship if they lived in the U.S. for more than five years and attended college or served in the military. It's estimated the DREAM Act could benefit up to two million youth. The House passed it last December in an historic vote, but Republican lawmakers sidelined the bill in the Senate and it failed to pass by five votes.

"He got depressed real bad," recalled Mendoza. "Every one of us, we all got depressed. Some of us can handle it, some of us can't. Joaquin couldn't."

Mendoza said his younger brother called him to wish him well and say goodbye shortly before he took his own life. In his last words to his brother, Luna said he couldn't accomplish his dreams because there was a huge wall blocking him from fulfilling his goals.

Becky Moeller, the Texas AFL-CIO president, said Luna's suicide highlights the human toll of the DREAM Act's failure to pass.

"Joaquin's suicide is a grave tragedy for his family and community, Texas, and the future of our nation," she said in a statement. "Joaquin experienced extraordinary challenges as an undocumented youth that no young person should have to face. His suicide is a tragic reminder of the toll of inaction and the dire need for humane solutions to the immigration crisis in the U.S. The loss of such a promising young life is heart breaking. Let us commit to change that doesn't allow young people like Joaquin to fall through the cracks."

On Saturday, the day after Luna took his own life, his family received his acceptance letter to the University of Texas-Pan American.

The family is urging youth experiencing similar trauma to Luna's to stay strong, seek support and not give up by taking your own life.

Meanwhile, the 2012 presidential election has put a spotlight on immigration and the DREAM Act, with even some Republican candidates saying they support it.

During a recent CNN debate of GOP presidential candidates, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke in favor of the DREAM Act. "I don't see any reason to punish somebody who came here at three years of age, but who wants to serve the United States of America," he said in a CNN news story.

Mitt Romney, another GOP presidential candidate agreed with Gingrich saying he "would staple a green card to the diploma of anybody who's got a degree of math, science, master's degree, Ph.D. We want those brains in our country."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a GOP presidential candidate, supports the Texas Dream Act, which gives in-state tuition to some students who have entered the country illegally. Perry has said his goal is to make sure immigrants become contributing members of society.

However many GOP lawmakers in Congress say passing the federal DREAM Act is "blanket amnesty" and strongly oppose it. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., calls it "a band-aid and maybe worse, it would provide an incentive for future illegal immigration."

Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn., denounces the DREAM Act saying it would "offer taxpayer-subsidized benefits to illegal aliens. We need to move away from magnets not offer more."

With the Republican controlled Congress stalled and unable to compromise on a bill to reduce the budget, and the presidential elections around the corner, the chances of any immigration legislation being passed soon seems unlikely.

Photo: Pepe Lozano/PW

Two thirds of HIV victims in U.S. are untreated

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Only about a third of those in the U.S. with HIV are getting treated says the Centers for Disease Control.

In addition, large numbers, some 240,000 of the 1.2 million in the U.S. with HIV, are unaware that they have the virus.

Awareness of infection and early treatment, doctors say, is essential to reducing new infections and eventually eliminating the illness. In a speech to the National Institute of Health Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently called for efforts to create an "AIDS-free generation."

Clinton in Burma at the Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness said assistance to poverty-stricken populations around the world with HIV should be a worldwide national security priority.

The new Centers for Disease Control data suggests there is much cause for concern on this score in the U.S.

In raw numbers, 28 percent of HIV carriers not receiving treatment means that "about 850,000 Americans do not have the virus controlled," Dr. Thomas Frieden said during a media teleconference," according to NPR.

A high percentage of those not receiving treatment are young Black and Latino men.

Receiving anti-retroviral drugs is key not only to better health but also preventing new infections. "There's new hope today for stopping HIV in the U.S.," according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"Medicines (antiretroviral therapy or ART) can lower the level of virus in the body. ART helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives and also lowers the chances of passing HIV on to others."

According to NRP receiving anti-retrovirals "makes treated people much less likely to infect others - 96 percent less likely." A study last spring produced these encouraging results.

The new data suggests the urgent need for stepped up efforts to provide treatment for those most in need. Today "young Black men who have sex with men are the only group in the United States who are currently experiencing an increase in new HIV infections," says the CDC's Kevin Fenton. A quarter of all new infections are among teen-aged African Americans.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for routine testing of teenagers.

Walker recall campaign off to blazing start

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:25:00 +0000

MADISON, Wis. - If there was any idea anger toward Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's right wing extremist policies has dissipated, that was smashed with the announcement that after just two weeks over 300,000 signatures have been collected for his recall. So far, collection totals average 1,040 signatures an hour and have far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.

Signature collection lasts until January 17, and 540,000 valid signatures are needed to recall Walker. Wisconsin law requires 25 percent of the previous election's gubernatorial vote total. Organizers are aiming to collect 1 million signatures.

If enough valid signatures are collected, the recall election will be scheduled for sometime in the first half of 2012. A Democratic challenger will be determined later.

In addition to Walker, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators are being recalled, potentially restoring a Democratic majority in the state legislature. This follows the successful recall of two Republican state senators this past summer.

Grassroots anger is fueled by the harsh reality of the destructive Walker policies. Not only has collective bargaining for most public employees been eliminated, but now these workers are forced to pay more for pensions and health care. And deep budget cuts are impacting public education and social services.

Over $800 million has been cut from public education and $500 million from Badgercare, the state Medicare system. Meanwhile over $117 million has been doled out in tax relief for big corporations.

The Walker policies have resulted in more job loss than any state, despite the governor's boast that "Wisconsin is open for business."

And new voter suppression law there is an assault on democracy.

The United Wisconsin movement backing the recall builds upon the coalition that led the mass protests and the Madison capitol occupation this past spring, including public workers, farmers, students, women's, civil rights and immigrant's rights organizations and the Democratic Party.

All sections of the labor movement are mobilizing including public safety unions who are exempt from the anti-collective bargaining law. In a show of unity, Harold A. Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, will lead a Madison rally of public safety unions on December 3.

A recent poll shows 58 percent of Wisconsinites favor recall, including a growing number of Republicans and people who voted for Walker in 2010. Many of the worst effects of the Walker policies are felt in the small towns and rural areas.

"What is truly remarkable," writes Nation political correspondent John Nichols, "is where the signatures are coming from: rural and small-town Wisconsin communities are contributing disproportionally high numbers of signatures to the total."

Nichols describes the torrid pace of signature collection in the town of Burlington in Racine County, a reliable Republican stronghold dating back to Richard Nixon.

Barack Obama received 2424 votes in Burlington in 2008. Recall organizers have already collected over 2500 signatures.

"I'm not frustrated," John Hopper a Burlington resident told the MyRacineCounty.com local news website. "I'm angry."

"I've worked with and around unions all my life," said Hopper. "I believe in everything the unions have gotten for everybody. To wit, a weekend. Vacations. Overtime. Health benefits. Civil workplaces. Work safety. Child safety laws."

Invoking her experience in a small Southwestern Wisconsin town, Cap Times columnist Margaret Krome believes recall organizers underestimated the fever for recall in rural communities.

"I wasn't expecting the reception I got," recounted Krome. "Three hunters turned their truck and trailer around and pulled up to where I stood on the sidewalk. I explained that I was with the Recall Walker campaign. 'It's why we turned around,' the driver said. He had already signed, but his father wanted the chance.

"While his father signed, I told him about the woman losing $200 a month. He held up four fingers. "For me, it's $400 a month." He's a prison guard, and the cut in health care and retirement benefits is hitting his paycheck hard."

The recall has been months in the making. Offices have opened all over the state and thousands of volunteers have undergone training. In addition to on the job and door-to-door signature collection, "drive through petition signing stations" have been set up all over. Drivers pull into a parking lot, sign and drive off.

The recall began Nov. 13. Over 105,000 signatures had been collected from all 72 counties in the state by Nov. 19, when a gigantic kickoff rally of 40,000 was held in Madison.

Former Associated Students of Madison Vice-Chair Beth Huang was a speaker at the rally and reflected widespread student support for the recall. "Tell the 180,000 students in the UW System that our never-ceasing annual 5.5 percent tuition increases are worth it when we're wait-listed class after class," Huang said in response to the recent university budget cuts.

Photo: John Bachtell/PW

House votes today on first part of GOP “jobs” plan

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:53:00 +0000

The first part of what the Republican Party calls its "jobs plan" is scheduled for a vote today in the House.

The measure, H.R. 3094, would deny workers the right to fair union elections by blocking changes proposed by the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year in the way union elections are conducted.

The GOP measure also gives companies a variety of new ways they can block or delay workplace elections. The bill establishes several new waiting periods before an election can be scheduled and it increases the number of ways companies can appeal NLRB decisions made before the elections are held.

Also, says the AFL-CIO, it allows employers, not workers and the union they wish to join, a bigger role in determining who is part of a bargaining unit.

That last part of the bill, unions note, will allow companies to include supervisors with a direct stake in opposing unionization to vote in a union election as part of the "regular" workforce.

On Thursday, Republicans will attempt, with a second measure, to destroy the government's ability to enforce rules designed to protect public health and safety and the environment. With still a third measure on Friday, they will attempt to wipe out the government's ability to enforce any new regulations in the areas of health, safety and the environment.

The bills they will push later this week are the so-called Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) and the REINS Act (H.R. 10).

"Repeatedly, Republican lawmakers have opposed jobs bills, including ones that would have put fire fighters, teachers and construction workers back to work. They have promised that they would produce a better jobs plan and this week we get to see it unfold," said AFL-CIO Government Affairs Director, William Samuel. "Republicans plan to create jobs by going after workers' rights and by gutting workplace and environmental safety and health laws. They really claim this is their jobs package."

Samuels said that he sent a letter to House lawmakers telling them that the Regulatory Accountability Act would "upend more than 40 years of labor, health, safety and environmental laws and threaten new protections."

The bill overrides requirements of current safety and health and environmental laws by making costs to companies, not protection of employees or the public, the primary concern.

The REINS Act, Samuels said, would take away the ability of federal health and safety regulators to implement any new rules by requiring Congress to approve all individual rules. Without such approval, any new rule would die.

The labor movement and its allies say that considering how Congress currently functions, putting it directly in charge of health and safety regulations would be akin to something like assigning a fox guard duty at a chicken coop.

They believe that science and professional expertise would be dismissed in the face of corporate opposition and that the public interest would take a back seat.

The Republican "jobs" plan does not stop with votes this week on H.R. 3094, and the Regulatory Accountability and REINS Acts. GOP lawmakers also have in the hopper bills that would either put a moratorium on any new safety, health or environmental protection regulations or even roll back major safety laws now in place.

The Republican position is that the attacks on workers' rights and health and safety rules would allow small businesses to get out from under what they say is the "burden" of regulations, allowing them to step up hiring.

A major survey of small business owners last month, however, showed that only 13.9 percent say the reason they are not hiring workers is because of government regulations. The majority said the problem is the economy and lack of demand.

Air Force welcomes Wiccans and pagans

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0000

In Colorado Springs, Colo., the U.S. Air Force Academy has dedicated an $80,000 outdoor worship center to followers of alternative religions, some of whom are current or future cadets. These include pagans, Wiccans, druids, witches, and followers of similar belief systems that value nature, reports the LA Times.

The worship center is a hill-topped, Stonehenge-like circle of boulders around a fire pit. It will serve as a place of comfort and equality for those who have committed themselves to ancient and widely misunderstood religions.

At this time of year, pagans and others are preparing for holiday festivities, with the arrival of the winter solstice. For them, this new center is a sacred place that arrives just in time.

According to the academy's enrollment records, a mere three out of 4,300 cadets are pagans, while witches and druids are absent from the group altogether this year. Chaplain Maj. Darren Duncan - branch chief of cadet faith communities at the academy - said that despite this, he's already heard all the broomstick jokes directed at potential Air Force witches.

The point, he said, is that "we're here to accommodate all religions, period. We think we are setting the standard."

In addition to providing a place for alternative worship, new policy says that all cadets must take courses in understanding the beliefs of those who could someday fall under their command.

And this sign of progress hasn't been confined to the Air Force alone.

According to World Wide Religious News, in 2004, Britain's Armed Forces enlisted their first-ever Satanist - a naval technician serving on a frigate. Chris Cranmer is a LaVeyan Satanist, and follows the tenets of the Church of Satan. His religion is a peaceful one that discourages occultist concepts and supports progressive ideas of indulgence and self-fulfillment.

Cranmer was granted permission to practice his beliefs at sea, and - should he be killed in action - allowed to have a funeral carried out by the Church of Satan.

Today in the U.S., the allowance for paganism and Wicca would seem a pleasant surprise, particularly at a time when the Christian faith dominates America, often at the expense of other faiths and cultures. Evidence for this was present during 2005 - when the Air Force was accused in a lawsuit of allowing aggressive proselytizing toward non-Christians.

Michael Weinstein, a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy, criticized Pentagon policies on religion and alleged that a New Mexico Air Force recruiter was "using Jesus Christ as a recruiting tool."

Weinstein, who is Jewish, said he has received hundreds of complaints from cadets who feel pressure from others to profess Christian belief against their wishes. Their own views, he suggested, have been disrespected to such an extent that in 2010, a cross was left at a previous earth-based worship area. Though the Air Force agreed the incident was offensive, it was never learned who was responsible for it.

"It is absolutely horrifying that the Air Force has been trying to force its recruiters to use the gospel of Jesus Christ as a recruiting tool," Weinstein said. "There's no wall left between Church and State in the Air Force."

Taking a step back and respectfully allowing alternative religious followers to openly embrace their own creeds may be just what's needed to erect that wall once again. There have been no reported incidents of pagans or witches proselytizing in the Air Force.

"It is very nice to have our own space," said Cadet First Class Nicole Johnson. Hailing from Florida, she is 21 and became a pagan after entering the academy.

Johnson said that her beliefs are often misunderstood. However, she claimed not to have been the subject of any serious grief or harassment at the hands of other cadets, save for a few mild jokes, one of which asked whether she could cast a spell on commanding officers. She replied that even if she could, she wouldn't.

Photo: info-wars.org

Black public workers first laid off by job cuts

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:35:00 +0000

African Americans are experiencing the sharpest edge of layoffs of government and other public workers across the country. The worst of these job cuts were at first avoided by the Obama administration's federal stimulus package that was designed to prevent state and local layoffs.

Black public workers are one-third more likely to be laid off than their white counterparts, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

The public sector is the largest employer of Black men and the 2^nd largest employer of Black women, according to a recent study by the University of California Berkley Center for Labor Research and Education. It is "the single most important source of employment for African Americans," according to Steven Pitts, author of the study. About one in five African Americans have government jobs. By comparison, 14.6 percent of whites and 11 percent of Hispanics work in the public sector.

Because of greater unionization and, until now, greater job stability, public sector workers such as, postal employees, police, teachers and health care workers have afforded the Black community greater measures of wage equality and upward mobility than in the private capitalist economy.

Almost half a million state and city employees have been laid off since 2009. Black unemployment, though experiencing a slight dip in October, remains over 15 percent, twice the national average.

The Congressional Black Caucus, during the summer of 2011, held a series of jobs fairs and public hearings on the unemployment crisis.

In September President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act, to address the national jobs crisis. Republicans have repeatedly blocked every attempt to have the bill passed.

President Obama, at a November White House policy conference, the first of its kind dealing with the black community, took note of the unique challenges confronting African Americans regarding employment. He stressed the effects of the recession on workers generally and black workers in particular.

The Great Recession caused the greatest wealth loss among Black and Latino homeowners in U.S. history. Both groups, along with senior citizens, were special targets of banks and mortgage companies offering sub-prime loans.

Loss of tax revenues have added to the crisis, causing city and state government budget shortfalls, prompting additional layoffs, placing undue stress on already overburdened black communities and their workers. "The central role played by government employment in black communities is hard to overstate. African-Americans in the public sector earn 25 percent more than other black workers," writes the New York Times.

PW photo.

Wal-Mart warehouse workers file wage theft suit

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:05:00 +0000

ELWOOD, Ill. - A group of 18 warehouse workers here filed a lawsuit in federal court Nov. 18 against two staffing firms they say are not paying them for the hours they worked.

The alleged wage theft scheme is taking place at a Wal-Mart warehouse in this far southwest suburb of Chicago. Orlando, Fla.-based Eclipse Advantage, the staffing firm that hired the workers, was named in the suit, along with Midwest Temp Group Inc., which has offices in area suburbs New Lenox and Bolingbrook.

Both temp companies are accused of violating the Illinois Day and Temporary Services Act, one of the strongest state laws in the country.

Wal-Mart was not named in the suit.

The workers belong to Warehouse Workers for Justice, based in Joliet, Ill. The group and its members have filed three similar suits against Wal-Mart in the past two years.

The new lawsuit complaint notes the workers were promised $9.25 to $10 an hour. The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour. The workers were also told they could earn bonuses.

However the workers claim their paychecks failed to match the actual hours employees worked and did not even equal the minimum wage. The suit charges the workers were also promised paid vacation, which critics note is a recruitment tactic during the busy holiday season. They were never granted paid leave.

"I worked 21 hours for Eclipse my first week and I was paid $57 for it," said Roberto Gutierrez, one of the workers, in a statement. "The company says I only worked 12 hours, but even by their logic I was still paid less than the minimum wage. That's never right, especially so close to the holidays, that's why we came together and filed this. To put a stop to it."

On Nov. 21, Gutierrez, along with several dozen other workers, marched to the Wal-Mart warehouse to demand receipt of the company's Bill and Pay records in an effort to gain further insight into how much they are owed.

Workers are demanding back pay and an injunction against both Eclipse Advantage and Midwest Temp to end their practice of not providing accurate information in writing to temporary laborers. The suit is asking a federal judge to restore owed wages and order the two staffing firms to provide conditions of employment in writing at the time the workers are hired.

A human resources executive for Eclipse, who refused to give her name, told Crain's Chicago Business the allegations against the company are "unfounded and will be defended vigorously." She added, "Eclipse has and will continue to pay its employees in compliance with all applicable laws and at competitive rates."

In the same news story a Wal-Mart spokesman noted, "If the allegations are accurate, we will require our contractor to take appropriate action immediately."

The practice of shorting overtime, skirting minimum wage and forcing employees to work off the clock has been the subject of an increasing number of lawsuits.

The warehouse workers say they are tired of the abuse and want the temp agencies and their mega-retailer contractor to stop nickel-and-diming their wages. They say Wal-Mart is ultimately responsible for the wages and working conditions in the warehouses where the goods for their stores are received, stored and distributed. Those warehouses are an essential part of the big box store operation, they say.

Meanwhile, the National Consumers League has issued a special warning about wage theft targeting seasonal and part-time workers. For more information on wage theft, see their website.

Photo: (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

Big changes in the Catholic liturgy

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:30:00 +0000

WEBSTER, Mass. - It's a new New Order.

Catholics here and around the English-speaking world used for the first time the new version of its most standard Mass Nov. 27, marking the first time since 1975 that the Church has made changes to the way English speakers celebrate the New Order Mass, which replaced the old style Latin-language Mass after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, wrote in a Nov. 20 pastoral letter, "The next few weeks will require careful attention as we sing and say new responses and prayers, and there may be some awkwardness and confusion. However, in a short time there will be again an ease to our participation in the celebration."

According to Bishop Robert J. McManus, who leads the Diocese of Worcester, of which Webster is a part, "The new translation wonderfully recaptures the transcendence and majesty of God."

The date of the change is important for Catholics, as it was the first day of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

"I felt strange," said Edward, a parishioner here at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. "I grew up saying, 'And also with you.' It's not a big deal, but it was weird."

He was referencing a change to the "sign of peace," in which the priest and churchgoers wish each other goodwill, and then do the same amongst themselves, shaking hands with those closest to them. Up to now, the first well wisher would say, "Peace be with you." The correct response would be, "And also with you." Now, the correct response has been updated to: "And also with your spirit."

While some have referred to the Church as having changed the Mass, it has not actually done so. Instead, it has changed the translation of the official Latin. The changes were introduced in the newest Missale Romanum, or Roman Missal, which gives directions as to how the service is to be carried out, including the correct words to say. Similar changes were introduced in all other languages as well, in order to bring greater conformity to congregations around the world who use the Latin Mass.

While many of the alterations seem small, the Vatican and Catholic bishops say that they are important clarifications. Msgr. Robert K. Johnson, director of the Office for Divine Worship of the Diocese of Worcester, Mass., explained the reasons in the diocese's newspaper, Catholic Free Press. In the rush and excitement of the 1960s, when the Latin language, or Tridentine, mass was replaced by the New Order, which was to be celebrated in the local vernacular, the Vatican did not issue guidelines for translations. Further, the new Roman Missals were rushed into print, and errors crept in. While a new missal was introduced in 1975, many errors were left unfixed.

The Latin language, he continued, is able to express a great depth of meaning in fewer words than in other languages. As a consequence, translators had to decide whether to be brief or accurate. Unfortunately, said Msgr. Johnson, accuracy lost out.

Not only language was changed, however. There are new instructions on when to stand, when to observe silence, when to kneel or genuflect and when it is necessary to sing.

While some of the changes are minor, others have caused controversy among Catholics. Critics, including some bishops, say that the new translation is far less accessible to modern audiences. They note that the Nicene Creed, said during the mass as a statement of faith, now includes a particularly long word. Referring to Christ, the creed used to say, "one in being with the Father." Now, however, the text reads, "consubstantial with the Father."

Some priests have grumbled about having to learn a new prayer - with a 70-word sentence.

About 20,000 Catholics, including Catholic leaders, signed a petition asking the Vatican and the bishops to wait to change the mass, and to test the new version out before making it binding on the whole church.

Others see the new translation as adding, to use a phrase repeated by several bishops, "greater depth and beauty." While, as would be expected, traditionalists have taken up this position, a number of others have as well.

"They had scholars who studied the translation, and we were out of line with what the actual Latin said," said Sarah, another parishioner at Sacred Heart. "They fixed it. What's wrong with that?"

"You know, I like to come to the Catholic churches, though I'm not a believer," said one person after the Mass who did not want to be identified. "It's just very beautiful, and I think that the new translation or Mass, whatever, it is more beautiful. It is very touching. It makes you feel like there could be a God."

A few people have accused Pope Benedict the XVI of trying to push what is seen as a traditionalist agenda, even towards reversing the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, which made numerous changes within the Catholic Church. Benedict is very much a traditionalist, and has made it easier for priests who want to do so to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Tridentine mass. However, the project for a new translation was originally announced by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

For a list of other changes, click here.

Photo: Bishop Joseph McManus, who leads the Diocese of Worcester, speaking with a parishioner outside Saint Paul's Cathedral. Mike Benedetti // CC 2.0

New Haven prepares for week of action for jobs

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:29:00 +0000

As the City of New Haven reels from the 31st death of a young person to gun violence this year, the movement for job creation is heating up as mobilizing begins for a rally and a large march next week.

Excitement is building for the "Jobs for Youth - Jobs for All" rally to be held on Sunday, December 4 at 4 pm at the Cooperative High School for Arts and Humanities at 177 College Street in New Haven where a video of the youth jobs march will be premiered and the People's World Amistad Awards will be presented to three labor, and community leaders.

"Here we will all come together, this will be powerful and exciting," exclaimed one high school student from New Haven.

After having organized a march of 200 for youth jobs and against violence on November 2, and a press conference on November 17 of nearly 100 outside the closed Dixwell Community House youth center, calling for infrastructure jobs, the New Elm City Dream and the New Haven Young Communist League are preparing to bring their energy and commitment to the rally.

Award recipients include Renae Reese, director of the Connecticut Center for a New Economy, Delphine Clyburn, 1199 union delegate and alderwoman-elect from Ward 20 in New Haven, and Pastor Abraham Hernandez, vice chair of the statewide Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care.

An array of youth performances, produced by poet Baub Bidon, will feature a Hispanic dance group, hip-hop dancers, several poets, a jazz combo, and song. Video and photos of the youth march for jobs will be shown.

"The spirit of the 99% is sure to fill the auditorium," said Joelle Fishman, event organizer and chair of the Connecticut Communist Party USA whose 92nd anniversary is being celebrated at the rally in recognition of its long history in the fight for good jobs with union representation, equality and peace, and its vision of Bill of Rights socialism.

In the midst of a people's upsurge against corporate rule, deepening poverty and the largest economic divide since the great depression of the 1930's, the rally call to action will include the emergency need for massive public works jobs to restart the economy and aid communities, to be paid for by taxing the rich and ending the wars.

The youth groups have collected hundreds of signatures in support of the American Jobs Act and the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act.

"By putting all generations of people to work there will be less violence, and a better economy in New Haven," said first year college student Joseph Stoudmire Jr. at the Youth Jobs March.

A group of newly elected representatives on the New Haven Board of Aldermen, mostly union members, have been invited as special guests along with labor and community leaders who have been recipients of the People's World Amistad Awards over the last eleven years.

Two days later the unions at Yale, the New Haven Labor Council and community groups are joining with Occupy New Haven for a large march through downtown to demand more jobs for all residents.

The march will leave at 5 p.m. from City Hall on December 6 and go to the AT&T building on Orange Street in support of the workers and their union, Communication Workers of America, as they begin contract negotiations. The march will then go to Chase Bank, and fill New Haven's Wall Street near the Yale campus to support Yale workers who are also starting contract negotiations.

Tickets for the December 4 Amistad Awards rally are $10, and $1 for youth. For more information call 203-624-8664 or email ct-pww@pobox.com

Photo: New Haven, Connecticut rally and press conference in support of the American Jobs Act, calling for funds to rebuild and staff the Dixwell Q House community center, as well as other community and infrastructure needs. Art Perlo/PW.

The Republicans' pizza problem

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:03:00 +0000

Actually it's not the pizza. It's the tomato paste on the pizza.

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the National School Lunch Program, proposed new standards to improve the nutrition in school lunches by limiting the amount of french fries and pizza being served, lowering the sodium content, and boosting whole grains and vegetables. The proposed new standards included, for example, no longer counting the tomato paste on a slice of pizza as a vegetable serving.

This month, House Republicans blocked those efforts. Conservatives in Congress claim they are trying to prevent "overly burdensome and costly regulations," and some argue the government shouldn't be telling children what to eat.

Do the Republicans, and a few Democrats, have a thing about veggies? Did their moms force them to eat their vegetables before they could get dessert? Instead of blaming poor old mom, better follow the money.

In fact, the GOP-led action was "requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers," according to the Associated Press.

The agri-food industry - giants like ConAgra and others - went into lobbying overdrive to stop the USDA's efforts.

With regard to the hotly contested tomato paste issue, reports Minnesota Public Radio's Brett Neely, Congress "sided with one of biggest makers of frozen pizza for school lunches, the Schwan Food Co. of Marshall, Minn., a frozen pizza giant with more than $3 billion a year in annual sales. The privately held company was at the heart of the lobbying battle in Washington over pizza and convinced several members of Minnesota's congressional delegation to follow its lead."

Neely reports: "Schwan Food pizza brands include Red Baron, Freschetta and Tony's Pizza. Besides the products it sells to consumers, Schwan's does a big business selling frozen pizza to the federally-subsidized school lunch program.

"A recent press release from the company boasts that it has a 70 percent market share in the pizza category of the $9.5 billion school food service industry."

Says Neely, "Federal lobbying records show that Schwan and the American Frozen Food Institute, the industry's trade association, spent about $450,000 on lobbying this year, although the information available to the public doesn't say how much was spent on this issue alone."

Writing about the "school lunch lobby" a few years ago, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution noted that the "the major purpose of today's school-lunch program is to ensure that children, especially those from poor and low-income families, have nutritious food at school."

More than 30 million children get their lunch through the program on any given day.

Nevertheless, Haskins observed, "behind the overcooked vegetables and steam-table pizza that American children confront each school day is an industry that rivals defense contractors and media giants in its ability to bring home the federal bacon."

Amidst rising concern about soaring obesity rates among American children, Amy Dawson Taggart, director of Mission: Readiness, a group of retired generals advocating better nutrition as a national security issue, commented on the House move, "It doesn't take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace."

Photo: USDAgov CC BY- 2.0

Advocacy group warning seasonal workers: don't fall victim to wage theft

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:26:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC - This holiday season, the National Consumers League (NCL), the nation's oldest consumer organization, is issuing a reminder to the thousands of part-time and seasonal workers of their rights and protections under federal labor laws and warning them about the prevalence of abuses in the workplace. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, retailers across the country are taking on extra help to manage the holiday crowds. According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, retailers hired more than 18,000 new workers in October alone.

With the national unemployment rate stuck around 9 percent, seasonal work will provide many American workers with much-needed wages; however NCL is warning new hires of the many pitfalls in the workplace that often lead to wage theft, in which workers don't receive the compensation they are rightfully owed.

"Part-time and seasonal workers are often more vulnerable to wage theft," said Michell K. McIntyre, Project Director of NCL's Special Project on Wage Theft. "Many workers sign onto the temporary work, grateful for the opportunity and without paying full attention to company rules and policies governing compensation and benefits. Short-term, seasonal work also often moves at a faster pace, and both workers and employers can forget critical pieces of information or paperwork that could affect how much a worker get's paid."

One of the most important pieces of information seasonal hires need be aware of is their worker classification - whether they are labeled as an employee or an independent contactor in their job description and tax forms.

A worker classified as an independent contractor is not entitled to employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). FLSA rights include:

The right to the minimum wage and the highest rate available between the federal ($7.25 per hour), state, city, and county minimum wages
Anti-discrimination protections
Workers compensation and overtime pay
Overtime compensation at 1½ times the regular hourly rate after working more than 40 hours per week for the same employer
A workday that begins upon entering the workplace (including donning a uniform or setting up) and ends when leaving the workplace (including the time it takes to clean up or restock inventory)

Employers do not pay payroll taxes for independent contractors; contracted workers are on the hook for the back taxes to both the IRS and the state tax board when tax season rolls around. An independent contractor receives a 1099 tax form in place of a W-2 form.

NCL reminds workers that knowing the law and keeping proper records are critical in order to ensure that they are paid the amount they are owed. NCL recommends workers save all payroll stubs and double-check that the number of hours worked, rate of pay, paycheck deductions and that the official/legal name of the employer is correct. To help American workers calculate how much they should be earning, the US Department of Labor has created a free app for smartphones to help workers track their hours and determine the exact amount employers owe. The tool is exceptionally useful when there are any paycheck discrepancies.

"In these tough economic times, it's important for workers to get every penny they are owed. The best way for workers to ensure accurate payment is to know their rights at work and who they can turn to for help," said Sally Greenberg, NCL's Executive Director.

For more information on wage theft, visit NCL's Web pages on the subject.

Photo: Ben Margot/AP

Routine teen-aged HIV test proposed by doctors

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:08:00 +0000

Routine HIV testing for teenagers in high-risk areas is now being proposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The proposal was made in a study, "Adolescents and HIBV Infection," published in the group's journal, Pediatrics.

Because of the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS in urban working-class communities, Black and Latino teenagers would be the primary targets of such testing. The proposal calls for "routine screening at urgent-care clinics and emergency departments in high-prevalence areas. And it argues any teen tested for a sexually transmitted disease (STD) should automatically receive an HIV test."

Any area where the HIV infection rate is over 0.1 percent would be included, according to the proposal. Most urban centers are in this category.

The Center for Disease Control has called for universal testing of all patients between the ages of 16 and 64. However, the U.S. Public Health Service has not endorsed the proposal.

According to Time.com doctors also did not follow suit with testing because of "cost effectiveness," hinting that insurance companies might have balked at payment.

Health care legislation passed by Congress and now before the Supreme Court, might alleviate payment for such testing as an issue.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Patricia Emmanuel, a co-author of the report, told Time, "HIV is not just a grown-up disease. The greatest increase is in young gay men, mostly ethnic minorities. Many are 16, 17 and 18. They are not 13, but they are teenagers."

A recent UN study says worldwide the AIDS death rate has dropped by 21 percent from its height. Thirty four million people are now living with the illness.

The UN says more funding is needed to maintain the decrease in infection rates. Resources, however, are drying up. The LA Times writes: "The humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders said that while dramatic increases in funding were needed, contributions were falling. Donor funding for AIDS prevention declined $ 7.6 billion in 2009 to $6.9 billion in 2010."

Scientists now believe the tools are available to control the AIDS pandemic. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton recently gave a speech on the subject to the National Institute of Health. In the speech, Secretary Clinton called for the first "AIDS free generation" since the beginning of the pandemic.

"The goal of an AIDS-free generation is ambitious, but it is possible," remarked Mrs. Clinton.

FDA says it's OK to turn bad food into sellable stuff

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:49:00 +0000

When a school lunch company took moldy applesauce and repackaged it into fruit cups for school lunches in October, it drew only a sharp warning from the Food and Drug Administration, according to an MSNBC report Monday.

The fact that the FDA failed to take any stronger action is not the most troublesome part of the case. After investigating when a re-inspection of the offending Snokist Growers of Yakima, Wash. would occur, the reporter learned from both industry and government officials that "reworking" bad food is business as usual in America.

Turning tainted or even contaminated food into "edible" and profitable stuff is so common in the United States that virtually all producers do it.

Everyone knows about the revolving door that operates between K Street in Washington, where the corporate lobbyists are headquartered, and the halls of Congress. No one was surprised when they learned this weekend that Newt Gingrich earned $100 million by exploiting his political connections in corporate boardrooms.

Much less known, however, is the revolving door between FDA headquarters and the board rooms of corporate food producers.

"Any food can be reconditioned," Jay Cole told the MSNBC reporter. Cole, a former federal inspector, is now senior consultant with the FDA Group, a firm that helps big food companies comply with government regulators.

The "reworking" of food involves a number of surprising methods.

Who knew, for example, that chocolate ice cream is one of the best places to hide food production "mistakes?"

When companies make mistakes mixing other flavors they frequently dump the bad batches into the chocolate batches. The strong chocolate flavor disguises the blueberry flavoring or whatever else was produced by mistake. It is justified, food company spokespeople say, because no one is getting anything dangerous in his or her package of "chocolate" ice cream.

The food industry people also defend "reworking" of food that involves hiding things that it says are merely "unappetizing." This type of "reworking" involves everything from sifting of insect parts out of cocoa beans to blasting live insects with radiation while the bugs are still crawling around on dates, figs and other foods.

If defending practices like those are not bothersome enough, try this on for size:

Salmonella was detected last year in massive amounts of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), a flavor "enhancer" used in gravy mix, dairy products, spices, snack foods and almost all canned soups.

Salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever in six to 72 hours of eating contaminated food. Symptoms also include chills, headache, nausea and vomiting.

While 177 HVP products turned out by the offending Basic Food Flavors Inc. of Las Vegas were recalled, the FDA allowed the company to "recondition" the salmonella-tainted products by heat-treating the foods. The foods were then redistributed and sold.

In just the last month, consumer advocates were happy when the FDA issued new regulations banning seven different types of salmonella from various beef products. They called the tougher regulations good news, much better than any they had gotten when the Bush administration controlled the FDA.

But they are hoping that the FDA will become stricter not just on regulations, but on policies and practices that can lead to food safety problems for consumers.

Some FDA officials still admit that they allow certain levels of contaminants to remain in food because a zero tolerance standard would be impossible to meet.

William Corell, the FDA's director of compliance, says the practice of "reconditioning" food is allowed because it "can avoid waste and expense. Some things can be adulterated and fixed, and you're not throwing out food that would otherwise be OK."

Almost incredibly, according to the MSNBC reports, a review of official FDA standards shows that the government allows an average of 225 insect fragments or four rodent hairs per eight ounces of pasta products.

An average of 20 or more maggots of any size is permitted per 3.5 ounces of drained canned mushrooms, or per half-ounce of dried mushrooms. When it comes to mold, an average count of 15 percent is allowed for cranberry sauce.

Official regulations in Germany, France and Scandinavian countries allow no levels of these contaminants. They note that allowing any levels opens the way for food producers to move in the direction of combining bad and good products to lower the overall content of contaminants.

The FDA says it does not allow such "mixing," where an apple juice maker, for example, could, in order to end up with an acceptable product, mix batches with a high mold count with those that have a low count.

"If food is adulterated in an unacceptable way," said FDA compliance director Corell, "reconditioning won't fix it. You can't cook the poop out of it."

Photo: keepps (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

International solidarity ends in win for New York paper mill workers

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:44:00 +0000

FULTON, N.Y. - A pair of international union allies helped Paperworkers at the Huhtamaki Packaging Plant in Fulton, N.Y., defeat a terrible company health insurance scheme. And then their parent union, the Steelworkers, helped its local find a replacement that kept the insurance - but that saved the employer $500,000 a year.

All that led to a new three-year contract between Huhtamaki and USW Local 4-54 this fall, according to Pulp Truth, a publication of the USW's paperworkers sector.

The saga started when Huhtamaki, a subsidiary of a Finnish company, proposed what USW Paper Sector negotiators called "the worst plan they've ever seen put on the table in the industry."

"Huhtamaki originally proposed to replace the HMO health care plan with a high- deductible health insurance plan that literally threatened the livelihood of the workers if they got sick," Pulp Truth added. Huhtamaki also wanted to eliminate overtime pay on weekends and after eight hours a day. The firm's original contract proposal, with those two elements as lowlights, was overwhelmingly voted down.

To emphasize the point, the local bought 500 T-shirts and members wore them on solidarity days. There were also "blue (union) hairnet" solidarity days, and more T-shirts were shipped to a sister paper plant in Maine. But the firm still didn't budge, so USW enlisted overseas unions to help.

USW linked up the local with the Finnish union and the Australian Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), Local 4-54 President Al Smith said. Those unions put pressure on Huhtamaki's Finnish parent firm. CFMEU told Huhtamaki it was treating its U.S. workers unfairly on health care. All that forced Huhtamaki to junk its health care scheme and bargain reasonably.

Then USW went one step further, and helped its local find a replacement health care administrator, POMCO. It could save the Huhtamaki $500,000 a year by taking over management of the Fulton plant's current HMO plan from a company-wide administrator, Smith explained.

"Huhtamaki approved the administrative change, and now the workers can keep their HMO and are guaranteed no premium increases for 2012," Pulp Truth reported.

"Our solidarity was what got us the contract," Smith said. "We bargained hard and we bargained smart with assistance from the International. We just kept at them. They eventually saw that if they did not move, there would be a work stoppage." The contract keeps the HMO and the workers' pensions and has raises in its last two years.

U.S. last in unionization among developed countries

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:36:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The United States is dead last among 21 top developed nations in both unionization rates and union coverage of the workforce, a new study says - and it's not because of globalization or high technology.

Instead, according to "Politics Matter: Changes in Unionization Rates in Rich Countries, 1960-2010," national political climates - which can expand legal rules such as who labor law covers, whom unions can bargain for and represent, and how free unions are to organize - are the determining factors in both union coverage and union density.

Countries with a Social Democratic political climate had consistently high rates of both unionization and union coverage. Countries with a "Continental European" tradition, where union membership is less enshrined, but collective bargaining coverage of workers is strong, have high union coverage rates but declining union membership.

And so-called "liberal market" economies like the U.S. and Britain, that, at best, are neutral about both organizing and union membership saw both membership and coverage crash, the Center for Economic Policy and Research study reported.

The biggest membership decline was in New Zealand, down 47.7 percentage points since 1980, the first year figures are available for all 21 nations. And while U.S. union membership dropped by 12.4 percentage points since 1980, it started from a lower base than the other 20 nations, and rested at 13.3 percent in 2007, dead last. Overall, union density rose in only one country, Finland (+0.9 percent), and coverage rose in five.

"Researchers have offered many explanations for the decline in unionization," the report says. "Some suggest that the demand for union representation has fallen. Most, however, argue that, for various reasons, the supply of union jobs has decreased.

"Some researchers blame" union leaders for focusing on "servicing existing members rather than organizing new members. Others emphasize weak legal protections for the right to organize, in combination with heightened employer opposition beginning in the early 1980s. But, probably the most common argument, at least in the public discussion, is the idea that unions are incompatible with the emerging, increasingly globalized, high-tech, service economy.

"If the decline in unionization is the inevitable response to the twin forces of globalization and technology, we would expect unionization rates to follow a similar path in other countries subjected to roughly similar levels of globalization and technology,"

But the unionization rates didn't follow those patterns, researchers said.

"These differences across countries exposed to broadly similar levels of globalization and technological change suggest that neither factor mechanically determines national levels of unionization.

"One simple factor, however, does appear to explain much of the observed variation in unionization trends: The broad national political environment. Countries that have been strongly identified during the postwar period with social democratic parties - Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland - have generally seen small increases in union coverage and only small decreases in union membership since 1980.

"Over the same period, countries identified as 'liberal market economies' - the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and Japan - have generally seen sharp drops in union coverage and membership."

The findings have implications for the U.S. union movement: The AFL-CIO made passage of the Employee Free Choice Act a top legislative priority, to help level the playing field in both organizing and bargaining. But both labor and the law were sidetracked by having to fight a concerted attack on union rights by the Republican Party and its allies. A planned Senate GOP filibuster killed the EFCA even before republicans took over the House in 2010.

One chart in the report shows that after the mid-1950s, U.S. private-sector unionization rates declined, with a steep fall starting after the Reagan administration began. But unionization among public sector workers hovered around 15 percent from 1948, the first year data is available, through 1962-63. It leaped 10 percentage points in one year and has risen since then to close to 40 percent.

While the report did not say so, public sector labor laws have generally been more neutral and less hostile to organizing than the National Labor Relations Act, as rewritten by the GOP-run Congress in the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. Labor law covering government workers, however, also often bans strikes and orders mandatory arbitration.

"National political traditions established in the period 1946 through 1980 have a strong capacity to predict changes in unionization rates from 1980 to the present. Of course, our analysis cannot establish causality, but the data are consistent with the view that national politics are a major determinant of national unionization rates and changes in those rates in recent decades. At the same time, the data contradict the view that a decline in unionization rates is an inevitable implication of 'globalization' or technological change," the report's authors conclude.

The entire report is available from the Center for Economic Policy and Research.

Connecticut protests demand jobs for infrastructure repair

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:27:00 +0000

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A closed youth center in New Haven and a highway entrance in Hartford were the sites of lively rallies Nov. 17, a national day of action that include over 300 "99 percent" protests for infrastructure jobs to meet the needs of local communities across the country.

"What do we want?" "Jobs!" "When do we want them?" "Now!" was the chant at the Dixwell Community House on Dixwell Ave. here. Horns honked in support on the busy street at rush hour as youth in middle and high school led the press conference and speak out called "The Q House Needs Work and So Do We!"

"I am so excited that the Q House is one of the sites on this national day of action," said Alderwoman-elect Jeanette Morrison, standing at the youth center in the middle of her ward, which has been closed for more than a decade. Morrison, a member of AFSCME, is one of 15 labor candidates who won election to the New Haven Board of Aldermen in November. Opening the Q House is one of her major issues, reflecting the responses she received while campaigning.

The event was co-sponsored by New Elm City Dream, a youth group that led a march of 200 through downtown days before the election in support of the provisions of the American Jobs Act and local job creation targeted to youth. The New Haven high school students spoke eloquently of the need for jobs and youth programs to help end the violence that has claimed the lives of so many of their friends and classmates this year.

"The New Elm City Dream is about getting jobs for youth. We come together and share ideas, and we have fun doing our work together," said Alexander Shakir.

"I'm tired of hearing about my friends getting into fights, because they had nothing to do after school," exclaimed Teyanna Gray. "We need youth centers in New Haven so that the youth will have a place to go and stay out of trouble."

"Really, what the youth need is a place they can call home," said Anthony Staggers. "Right now, they have nowhere to go, so they get caught up in all kinds of problems. The Q House should be a place we could call home again."

David Roy, from the Jobs and Unemployed Committee at the New Haven Peoples Center went to the Q House as a youth. He emphasized that he never had trouble finding work until he was laid off from the now closed Winchester factory down the street when it moved overseas.

MoveOn members from surrounding towns, said they were happy to learn about the Q House and participate. Stephen Monroe Tomzak of New Haven MoveOn reminded the crowd that our country has done before what is needed now - a massive WPA public works jobs program. He called for restoring taxes on the rich to fund such job creation.

Those present signed an oversized card to U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., highlighting the shameful fact that he voted against bringing two key parts of the American Jobs Act to the floor, including jobs for teachers and first responders and jobs for infrastructure repair. The poster will be delivered to his Hartford office during the holidays.

In Hartford, over 200 protesters marched down Farmington Avenue to the Broad Street ramp onto I-84. Twelve union leaders and activists sat down in civil disobedience to bring public attention to the urgent need for funds to repair highways in Connecticut and across the country.

The members of SEIU, IAM and Connecticut Citizens Action Group sat down peacefully until police arrested them for obstruction. They chanted to hold Wall St. Accountable. Connecticut Action Alliance For a Fair Economy organized the march and protest.

"We want jobs, not cuts! We want to make the 1 percent and Wall Street pay their fair share," said Tom Swan, director of Connecticut Citizens Action Group.

Photo: Hartford, Conn. 200 protestors called for funds to repair highways in Connecticut and across the country Nov. 17.

Bridge rally puts focus on jobs, infrastructure

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:20:00 +0000

BALTIMORE - Amid chants of "We are the 99 percent" and "Jobs not cuts," nearly 300 union members, Occupy Baltimore activists and community leaders and members rallied here for about two hours Nov. 17 at a busy intersection and on the aging steel Howard Street Bridge over Interstate 83. Event planners, led by "Good Jobs, Better Baltimore," hung a 3-foot by 40 -oot banner from the side of the bridge that said "99% - 1%, Bridge The Gap, Jobs Not Cuts."

It was part of similar bridge actions taking place around the country.

The rally was opened by John Reed, executive vice president, 1199 Health Care Workers East, who said, "We are assembled to support President Obama's Jobs Bill, and the Howard Street Bridge is a symbol of the jobs rebuilding America that could be."

Principal organizers were SEIU, MoveOn and Occupy Baltimore. Speakers included health care workers, unemployed workers, teachers and community activists.

Thousands rally against Alabama's immigration law

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:19:00 +0000

In a united effort to repeal Alabama's anti-immigrant law, Black, white and Latino members of Congress, faith, labor, community and civil rights leaders kicked off a state and national campaign Nov. 21 in Birmingham.

Thousands of Alabamians from across the state packed the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist church to denounce the draconian measure, which opponents call racist, anti-American and anti-family.

The campaign, One Family, One Alabama, welcomed a congressional delegation earlier in the day led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., one of the most vocal proponents for immigration reform in Washington.

"I am going to Alabama to stand with the good, decent people of Alabama to fight back and defend what I think is right," Gutierrez said in a statement days before the campaign launched. "We need an immigration policy that does justice and fairness to the rich history of immigrants that we have in the United States of America. An immigration policy that doesn't rip families apart."

Gutierrez said, after visiting Alabama in October, that he was moved to urge his fellow lawmakers to see how the law is impacting workers and their families.

"The fear and chaos in a small, not very well-established Latino and immigrant community has run deeper," he said in press conference leading up to this week's visit. "The feeling of danger and despair is palpable, perhaps owing to Alabama's history of dogs and water cannons and bombings and worse."

Gutierrez spearheaded the congressional delegation of 11 House members including Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-NY. She called the law "egregious" and an attempt by "reactionary politicians" to legislate immigration which is out of their jurisdiction.

"No one should believe that the problem with our nation's immigration policies are strictly limited to the reactionary, abusive, and often bigoted Alabama and Arizona laws," she wrote in the Huffington Post.

She notes state-governing bodies should help and assist the immigrant community, especially its youth in gaining access to higher education and tuition assistance. It's imperative that Congress takes up comprehensive immigration reform to keep families together, provide a feasible pathway to citizenship, strengthen the economy and create jobs for all Americans, she says.

"It is our duty to reject the politics of divisiveness and bigotry," Clarke adds. "We must pass immigration reform now. How we treat these immigrants today will ultimately define our future as a nation."

An ad hoc hearing was held by the delegation prior to the rally where the mayor of Birmingham, William Bell, said the Alabama law echoes the dark days of apartheid in South Africa and Alabama's Jim Crow laws. Bell said the U.S. doesn't need immigration laws in 50 states, but rather one federal immigration law.

"We need to speak with one voice and we need to speak as Americans," he said in an Associated Press story.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., was also part of the delegation. His home state also passed a strict immigration law that spurred Alabama and several other states to copy and follow suit. The law in Alabama like others is going to hurt local economies and the social fabric of the state, he said. "People are discovering that the rhetoric of hate is not making the country any better. It's making it worse," he said.

The law requires police to detain people who can't prove they are in the country legally and prohibits immigrants from receiving government services. One provision of the law calls for schools to check the legal residency of new students.

The law was passed by a majority Republican state assembly and signed by its GOP governor in June. Some Alabama Republican leaders say the federal government, which opposes the law, should be sending them "thank you" notes for addressing the problem.

Meanwhile Democratic State Senator in Alabama, Bill Beasley has sponsored a bill to repeal the law, HB 56. His colleague State Rep. Merika Coleman, also a Democrat, told the crowd of rally goers at the Church there is strong opposition to the law.

"We are the majority," she said. "They are the extremists."

In the last couple of weeks religious leaders and Black, labor and civil rights leaders have visited Alabama to denounce the law. They're also calling for statewide unity to repeal the measure.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) held a Nov. 21 vigil at Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. as part of a nationwide effort to show solidarity with Alabamians who oppose the measure.

"In just a few short weeks, HB 56 has wreaked havoc damage on Alabama's economy and educational system and endangered the public safety and civil rights of hundreds of thousands of residents," said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of NCLR, in a statement. "To push back on this reprehensible law, we need a unified front of everyone from local activists in Alabama to our national leaders to lend their voice and support to urge the Alabama legislature to reject a law that harkens back to a very dark chapter in the state's history."

Isabel Rubio, executive director of the Hispanic Interests Coalition of Alabama, an NCLR affiliate and member of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, is a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the law.

"We need to come together as a nation and say 'enough' to these bills that demonize and discriminate against our community and damage our whole state," she said.

Photo: Rep. Luis Gutierrez speaks during an ad hoc field hearing concerning immigration law HB56, Nov. 21, in Birmingham, Ala. Gutierrez is flanked by Rep. Joe Baca, from left, Mayor William Bell, Rep. Terri Sewell, Rep. Silvestre Reyes and Rep. Al Green. (Linda Stelter /Birmingham News/AP)

Occupy movement takes up new challenges

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:59:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. - The occupy movement here is stepping up activities focused on national and local demands despite police evictions of its downtown tent encampments.

Thousands massed Nov. 19 at the now-emptied downtown plaza which for over a month housed the main Occupy Oakland camp. They protested the rash of foreclosures devastating working class neighborhoods throughout the city, and the impending closure of five of the city's public schools.

Tanya Dennis of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) told how with ACCE's help she fended off a foreclosure attempt earlier this year and won a modification of her mortgage. "So we can stand up to the banks and we can prevail!" she declared to loud applause. Dennis urged rally-goers to join in a Dec. 6 national day of action "where people are going to reoccupy homes that have been foreclosed."

At press time, Occupy Oaklanders had set up tents at a West Oakland home currently in foreclosure proceedings, with permission of the owner and approval from neighbors.

Among other speakers at the rally: Maria Gastelumendi, owner of an area small business who expressed her wholehearted support for the occupy movement, and Dan Coffman, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 in Longview, Wash., who thanked Occupy Oakland for its solidarity with ILWU members' struggle against the corporate-owned EGT Development.

A 3,000-strong crowd then marched past downtown Oakland banks, posting signs, "Final notice, past due, from working people and the 99 percent" on the doors of Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America branches along the way.

At nearby Lakeview Elementary School, one of five public schools slated to be closed after the current academic year, parents, teachers and a Lakeview student demanded that all the schools be kept open.

Said one parent, "It's our school and they didn't even have the courtesy to let us in on plans to close any of the schools. They're taking our money to invest in wars; we want that money to keep the schools open!"

Protesters then marched back to the heart of downtown, where they briefly pitched tents in a park before again being evicted, with no reported violence or injuries.

It was an entirely different story at the University of California at Davis, where videos of the unprovoked close-range pepper-spraying Nov. 18 of campus protesters sitting quietly with arms linked was seen by millions on the internet and repeatedly in TV newscasts.

After massive campus protests, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi apologized for the incident to a Nov. 21 rally of thousands of students. The police officers involved and the campus police chief are on leave pending an investigation. The university system's top officer, President Mark Yudof, who said he was appalled at the police attack, held a telephone conference with heads of all 10 UC campuses to call for a review of police tactics and ensuring campus freedom of expression.

In a strongly worded statement, the UC Faculty Association said it held the chancellors of the campuses responsible for use of "police brutality to suppress dissent, free speech and peaceful assembly" at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and California State University at Long Beach.

"We call for greater attention to the substantive issues that motivate the protests regarding the privatization of education," the faculty association said. Its statement cited "massive" budget cuts, rising tuition at universities and community colleges, swelling student debt and "growing" privatization.

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel/PW

Occupy Congress to feature tent city of the unemployed in D.C.

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Starting Dec. 6, lawmakers in Washington will have to confront, face to face, the people left jobless by the Great Recession.

The labor and Occupy Wall Street movements are joining forces again - this time to launch "Occupy Congress." Evoking memories of the Resurrection City encampment in the nation's capital during the civil rights struggles of 1968, the plan involves setting up tents housing jobless workers from every state in the union, with the numbers of unemployed emblazoned on signs outside the tents.

"We decided to take back the Capitol. We want them to stare the unemployed workers in the face," declared Service Employees President Mary Kay Henry over the phone from her union's headquarters in Washington. "What we're doing," she said, "is setting up a people's camp."

In addition to SEIU, other unions, including the Communications Workers of America and the Steelworkers, are already calling members and supporters to build support for Occupy Congress. Groups such as MoveOn.org and the Center for Community Change have announced that they too plan to participate. The action is also being discussed in Occupy Wall Street encampments and meetings across the country.

"Thousands of people have signed up already to come to Capitol Hill, Henry said "and many will also make their own way to the camp. We're figuring out buses and transportation now."

The groups are trying to secure permits for setting up the tents on the lawn right outside the Capitol.

The planned "Occupy Congress" encampment, which will be the second "Occupy" camp in Washington this year, will be the first to zero in on jobs as the main issue.

While the others have raised the demand for jobs, they have done it mainly in the context of income inequality and fighting the unlimited power of Wall Street financiers and the 1 percent over the economy.

Henry said that the Occupy Congress demonstrators will push hard for Congress to pass legislation that can put unemployed workers "back to work as soon as January."

She said one specific goal of the protests will be to pressure Republicans to support President Obama's jobs creation proposals and that protesters also hope to shine the spotlight on "Congress's misguided obsession with the deficit and the overall inaction on unemployment."

"We're talking about it as an attempt to take back the Capitol," Henry said. "It would be great if we could build pressure that even goes beyond the jobs act."

Legislation the groups want Republicans in Congress to support includes measures to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and a financial transactions tax. Unions involved say the tax would help pay for job creation and for reversing some of the damage financiers caused when they pushed the country into the Great Recession.

Photo: An aerial view of Poor People's Campaign tents, called Resurrection City, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background, in Washington, May 1968. (Barry Thumma/AP)