Tens of Thousands March for Voting Rights
Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report.
Tens of thousands of labor and civil rights activists on Saturday marched from the New York offices of Koch Industries, whose owners have supported restrictive voting legislation modeled by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing think tank funded by brothers David and Charles Koch. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who took part in the event, put it this way:
You can’t accomplish anything if you’re not prepared to fight.
The coalition of labor, civil rights and community organizations marked Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, with the Stand for Freedom march and rally where they voted to roll back new voting rules passed in several states.
Some of the laws passed in more than a dozen states around the country include Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 10: NYC March for Voting Rights Begins at Koch Industries
Voting rights are human rights. To bring that point home, a coalition of labor, civil rights and community organizations will celebrate Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, with a Stand for Freedom march and rally, beginning at the Manhattan headquarters of Koch Industries, and ending at the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.
Where and when:
Saturday, Dec. 10
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Assemble 61st Street and Madison Avenue, Koch Industries New York City office.
11:30 a.m.: March from 61st Street and Madison Avenue to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 47th Street and 2nd Avenue
12:30 p.m.: Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations building
Earlier this year, as anti-labor laws swept state legislatures dominated by Republicans backed by the billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch (who together own most of Koch Industries), some of these same legislatures passed laws designed to suppress voter turnout, especially targeting African Americans and immigrants. Read the rest of this entry »
Tell Attorney General Holder to Fight Koch Brothers’ Voter Suppression
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The AFL-CIO, NAACP, the Brave New Foundation and several other groups are urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce the Voting Rights Act to stop the discriminatory voter suppression laws the right-wing billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have pushed and financed in dozens of states. The Koch Brothers are major funders of ALEC.
You can join in the fight to protect voting rights by clicking here and signing a petition to Holder urging him to use his authority under the Voting Rights Act to protect voters’ rights.
In this video from Brave New Films examining the new voter suppression laws that could disenfranchise as many 21 million Americans, NAACP President Ben Jealous says:
We’re in a moment right now where we are seeing the most aggressive attempt to roll back voting rights in this country than we’ve seen in over a century.
Civil Rights and Unions Go Hand-in-Hand, Says Ky. Activist
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J.W. Cleary, 55, says he has spent most of his adult life “with a union card in one hand and an NAACP card in the other.”
“Unions and the NAACP go hand-in-hand,” says the Paducah, Ky., United Steelworkers (USWA) member and longtime local NAACP president. “The NAACP fights for equality. In a union, everybody is equal.”
Cleary belongs to USW Local 550 at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The huge facility enriches uranium for nuclear power plants. Cleary says he learned the value of unions long before he went to work at the factory known locally as the “atomic plant.”
When I was a kid, my daddy was a waiter in a nightclub, and he didn’t make much money. Then he got a job at a chemical plant at Calvert City, near Paducah. He was the first African American hired. He joined the union and started making good money. The union also gave him job security and a voice at work.
Faith, Civil Rights Groups to Stand With Workers on April 4
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Faith communities across the nation will stand alongside working people, civil rights groups, students and immigrants on the days around April 4 to tell hard-working families under attack that “We Are One.”
In a telephone press conference this afternoon, prominent African American and evangelical faith leaders joined with civil rights and labor leaders to announce coordinated actions this weekend and on April 4 in support of working families.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker told the reporters that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s power grab reignited a huge movement of people standing up for human dignity and human rights. Holt Baker, who also is a member of the Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) national board, said:
We’re standing together to make our country better for all working people. We honor Dr. King with our determination to stand up and build the future our children deserve. These attacks on the middle class aren’t about the economy or the state budget. It’s about politics and payback.
IWJ has produced a set of resources for the We Are One mobilization–prayers, sermons, a bulletin insert, and pieces on what congregations, students, and worker centers can do.
NAACP Image Awards to Showcase Support for Workers Under Attack
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Attendees and participants at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards this weekend will showcase their support of American workers and families. NAACP officials will wear red, white and blue ribbons to show that they stand in solidarity with workers struggling to maintain collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and dozens of other states.
NAACP Chairman Roslyn Brock said:
“As we celebrate the contributions of people of color in film, literature, music and television, we will be wearing ribbons to show our support for the workers and families protesting in statehouses across the nation. The NAACP remains committed to helping public employees keep their collective bargaining rights, fair pay and appropriate benefits.”
The Image Awards will be broadcast Friday, March 4, live on Fox TV at 8 p.m. EST. Actress Holly Robinson Peete and comedian Wayne Brady will host.
More Than 270 Lawmakers Oppose Taking Away Public Employee Bargaining Rights
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UPDATE: As of this morning, 284 state lawmakers have signed on in support of Wisconsin Senators, according to Progressive States Network.
Progressive States Network today released a letter signed by a bipartisan group of more than 270 state legislators representing 44 states voicing their solidarity with the Wisconsin state senators who oppose an extreme measure to take away the right of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs.
In the letter, the lawmakers noted that in contrast to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and others attempting to force through legislation benefiting corporate CEOs, they were dedicated to working “in a constructive manner with all relevant parties to advance a vision for our nation’s future that truly ensures the economic security of our communities.”
The full text of the letter and list of signers is available here.
Report: Romania Beats U.S. in Internet Connection Speed
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Just as the interstate highway system opened up the nation to fast transportation of goods and services in the 20th century, the road to economic prosperity in the 21st century rides on the Internet highway. But nearly half (49 percent) of U.S. residents have Internet connection speeds that do not meet the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) minimum broadband standards and, more importantly, the United States overall ranks in the bottom half of the world in broadband speed.
The “2010 Report of Internet Speeds in All 50 States” released today by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) found there are wide areas of the nation, both rural and urban, that do not have any broadband access at all. We even trail countries like Romania in broadband speed.
CWA President Larry Cohen told a Washington, D.C., press conference:
Improving broadband deployment, connection speeds, and adoption will help facilitate job and business growth across the nation.
The report shows that the rate of increase in U.S. Internet connection speed is so slow, it will take the United States 60 years to catch up with current Internet speeds in South Korea, the country with the fastest Internet connections.
Workers Fired Up About One Nation
Working families are getting fired up about the One Nation Working Together march Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C. One Nation is our chance to tell the country that working people and civil and human rights activists are turning the discussion away from fear-mongering and deficit doomsaying to renewing the American Dream for everyone.
Coming just one month before the fall election, the march could have a huge impact, says Transport Workers (TWU) President James Little:
This November’s congressional and state races will decide our country’s direction for years to come and have vital importance for…working Americans. This mobilization will demonstrate the power of our united One Nation coalition, created by forces of goodwill that stand for hope and change.
It’s not too late to plan to come to Washington or to plan an event in your city. Click here to learn more.
One Nation Formed to Bring Back the American Dream
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Working people are frustrated and angered by the inability of lawmakers to stop the massive loss of jobs and decline in living standards, while Republicans—and some Democrats—freely hand over the economy to corporations that are growing richer and more powerful each day.
To help renew the American Dream for everyone, some 170 progressive groups, including the AFL-CIO, NAACP, National Council of La Raza and many affiliated unions, have come together in One Nation.
One Nation is a multi-racial, civil and human rights movement whose mission is to reorder our nation’s priorities to invest in our nation’s most valuable resource—our people. One Nation is holding an Oct. 2 rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. with tens of thousands of activists taking part. They will then return to their neighborhoods, congregations, schools and, especially, voting booths, fired up with new energy to take back the country.
On the same day, the union movement will walk door-to-door in targeted states around the country, mobilizing union members exactly one month before the fall elections.
