I normally do not blog on weekends but I do sometimes do political action notification. First I'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday and welcome all the new Facebook friends to the website. I hope you visit the archive for information.
We have lots of actions coming this week outside of normal community meetings I hope all are attending. First I'd like to comment on the Walmart protests across the country. I encourage people to view labor websites for actions that happened as mainstream media will not cover these actions beyond a 15 second clip.. Here in Maryland, we had one of the biggest in the country and Baltimore is teaming with union/labor actions. Please look below at the growing alliances of labor groups.
'I CAN'T PROTEST BECAUSE I KNOW THEY WILL FIRE ME....IF NOT TODAY, THEN LATER.'
'I AM FEARFUL OF PROTESTING BECAUSE LAWS AND POLICE ARE MORE RESTRICTIVE.....I DON'T WANT TROUBLE'.
'I HATE SHOPPING TODAY BUT I NEED THE SALES AS I DON'T EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE WHAT I NEED'.
These are all of what you hear as you talk to people around Walmart. So, when you hear news telling you the protests were small or that Walmart employees weren't involved.....this is why. The story you don't hear is that the purpose of these events is to give voice to these people who are being SILENCED.
WHAT KINDS OF COUNTRIES HAVE CITIZENS WHO FEEL THIS WAY? AUTHORITARIAN COUNTRIES! THIS IS NOT A FEELING A FREE, DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY EXUDES.
Remember, we are looking to alternative media for our news and we are creating our own web or newsletters that are shared in our communities. We are finding political candidates from our labor and justice organizations to run against
incumbents.
Walmart Employees Protest Retail Giant On Biggest Shopping Day Of Holiday Season
November 23, 2012 2:47 PM WJZ TV Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — As customers race to Walmart for Black Friday deals, some of the store’s employees are walking off the job. Demonstrations spark up in Maryland and across the county.
Monique Griego was there as protesters made their voices heard.
Sky Eye Chopper 13 was there as a line of hundreds of protesters stopped traffic with a March against Walmart in Prince George’s County.
“Walmart, Walmart you’re no good. Treat your workers like you should!” protesters chanted.
The demonstration continued in Laurel.
“Oh how sad it is our plight to work for crappy pay,” protesters chanted.
Walmart workers and their supporters are demanding the retail giant improve working conditions.
“Better wages respect from the managers,” one employee said.
Employees are taking a stand on the busiest shopping day of the year.
“It’s when Walmart makes the most profits, and we want to send a strong message to the community and consumers that we expect better for them,” an employee said.
The demonstrations here in Maryland were part of a bigger movement nationwide.
In California, as shoppers lined up for Black Friday deals outside, angry workers formed a picket line.
Greg Fletcher is among the workers demanding cheaper benefits.
He’s worked at Walmart for six years and makes $10.70 an hour.
“Unfortunately for my wife and two kids, we can’t afford the benefits package from Walmart. If we bought it, we couldn’t afford a roof over our heads, so it’s frustrating,” Fletcher said.
Union-backed groups helped organize these protests, and representatives told us this is just the beginning of a pressure being put on Walmart.
A Walmart spokesman called the protests a union publicity-stunt and says many of the demonstrators don’t even work at Walmart.
________________________________________________
SUPPORT THESE GROUPS WITH TIME AND DONATIONS!!!!!!
Celebrate United Workers’ 10th Year Anniversary! Posted in Events, Fight for Fair Development, Unity on November 9th, 2012 by Mike –
Join the United Workers on December 1 as we celebrate 10 years of movement building in Baltimore and across Maryland. We will be remembering key moments in the United Workers’ struggle and looking forward to the next ten years with an amazing and diverse panel of civic and cultural leaders from throughout Baltimore.
Panelists include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Taylor Branch, WEAA radio host and local politics expert Anthony McCarthy, human rights activist Lea Gilmore, and United Workers leaders.
Following the panel there will be a reception with light food and soft drinks. Baltimore’s Labor Chorus, folk musician Ryan Harvey, and other guest musicians will be performing.
Visit unitedworkers.org in the coming weeks, where we’ll be remembering our past, celebrating the present, and looking forward to the future with words from our leaders and archival pictures and video.
What: 10th Year Anniversary Celebration
When: Saturday, December 1, 3-6pm
Where: James McHenry Recreation Center (911 Hollins Street, Baltimore, MD 21223)
Bus routes: 1, 8, 10, 15, 20, 35, 36, 48, and orange circulator
To purchase tickets email us at info@unitedworkers.org or go to http://unitedworkers10th.eventbrite.com/#
_________________________________________________
IF YOU GO TO ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH YOU WILL NOT SEE THIS MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT. I RECEIVE IT BECAUSE I AM ON A MAILING LIST......SO WHY WOULD THIS ADVOCACY GROUP NOT HAVE THESE MEETINGS LISTED? IT IS NOT ON MARYLAND EDUCATION COALITION'S OR BALTIMORE EDUCATION COALITION WEBSITES EITHER.
IT IS BECAUSE IT IS NOT AN OPEN MEETING. YOU ATTEND IT ONLY IF YOU ARE INVITED.
You have successfully registered for MEC's Annual Meeting 2012. We look forward to seeing you Wednesday, November 28th from 6:00 - 9:00 at the Charles I. Ecker Business Training Center at the Gateway Campus of Howard Community College in Columbia.
For directions: http://coned.howardcc.edu/business_and_workforce_development/meeting_facilities/gateway.html
Sincerely,
Advocates for Children and Youth
________________________________________________
Rally to Support the Hyatt Baltimore Workers
Thursday, December 13, 2012
4:30-6pm
Meet at McKeldin Square
(Corner of Light St. and Pratt St., Baltimore MD)
The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has issued a complaint against the Hyatt Regency Baltimore for
violating federal labor law. The federal agency is prosecuting Hyatt,
alleging a variety of unlawful activities, such as unjustly firing union
supporters, threatening workers with arrest for lawfully leafleting
customers on Hyatt property, threatening workers for supporting the union,
disciplining union supporters unjustly, and surveilling union activity. A
trial is set for January.
Workers at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore have been organizing since early June
2012. The majority of hotels in Baltimore are nonunion, and the effort by
Hyatt Regency workers to organize is the first of its kind at that hotel in
decades. City leaders hoped to revive the Baltimore economy by investing in
the hospitality industry, and the Hyatt Regency was the first heavily
subsidized major hotel project in Baltimore. Sadly today, many jobs at the
Hyatt are subcontracted to workers earning poverty wages with no benefits.
Please join us at this important rally to support the Hyatt workers!
_______________________________________________
EVERYONE CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT, SCHOOLS, AND POLICE BRUTALITY IN BALTIMORE SHOULD COME TO THIS EVENT. THESE ARE THE LEADERS WHO ARE JOINING THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS OF THE ENTERPRISE ZONES AS AFFLUENT COMMUNITIES BY MOVING THE LOWER/WORKING CLASS OUT OF THESE COMMUNITIES. COMMUNICATE WITH THESE LEADERS.....ASSOCIATED BLACK CHARITIES, BUILD, AND MICHAEL SARBANES........ALL SUPPORTING CHARTER SCHOOLS AND CHOICE THAT ARE MARGINALIZING AND MOVING THE UNDERSERVED FROM URBAN AREAS, ALL SUPPORTING THE DEMOGRAPHIC RATIO OF 20 UNDERSERVED FAMILIES PER AFFLUENT SCHOOL/COMMUNITY AS THE MASTER PLAN FOR HOUSING DICTATES, AND ALL SUPPORTING THE USE OF PRIVATE NON-PROFITS TO REPLACE PUBLICLY RUN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, THE NATURE OF WHICH UNDERMINES A COMMUNITY'S ABILITY TO BUILD ITS OWN LEADERS AND MOVE ITS OWN AGENDAS AND ALLOWS CORPORATIONS TO CIRCUMVENT GOVERNMENT COFFERS AND GENERAL FUNDING TO TARGET DONATIONS THAT SUIT PERSONAL GAINS.
THAT IS WHAT THESE 3 GUESTS REPRESENT AND I WILL BE INTERESTED TO HEAR HOW THEY FRAME THE ISSUE OF RACE GIVEN THESE PUBLIC STANCES THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE.
"Race: The Power of an Illusion" PLEASE NOTE! WE'VE POSTPONED THIS SCREENING BECAUSE OF THE STORM. IT WAS SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 29. IT'S BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4.
Please join us Tuesday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. for a screening and panel discussion of Race: The Power of an Illusion. This free event will be in the Wheeler Auditorium at the Pratt Central Library.
Race: The Power of an Illusion - free screening and panel discussion
NOTE NEW DATE: Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m.
Wheeler Auditorium
Enoch Pratt Free Library
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
This powerful hour-long documentary traces the effect of public policy—particularly in housing—on inequality in America. It features law professor john a. powell, a guest for the October 26 "Lines Between Us" segment about public housing, and it lays out at the national level many of the issues that our series is grappling with at the regional level.
Maryland Morning host Sheilah Kast will serve as moderator for the post-screening discussion. Panelists include:
- Diane Bell-McKoy, President & CEO, Associated Black Charities
- Bishop Douglas Miles, organizer of Baltimore's Koinonia Baptist Church and Clergy Co-Chair of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD)
- Michael Sarbanes, executive director, Baltimore City Public Schools' Office of Engagement and co-chair, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
Are you going? Head over to Facebook to "join" the event and share it with your friends!
This event is presented in partnership with the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Race: The Power of an Illusion was produced by California Newsreel.
_____________________________________________
THANKS FOR THIS SUPPORTIVE MESSAGE FROM OUR MARYLAND TEACHER'S UNION!!!!!
Message from BTU President, Marietta English Week at a Glance. . .
- Many of us will travel to different places to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones. Some will remain at home. However as you celebrate the holiday, please keep in your thoughts those members and their families that won’t be together for the holidays because they are serving our great nation and protecting our freedom.
- Black Friday is the biggest sales day for many retailers. I would like to leave you with this message from Randi Weingarten our national president. “Before you consider hitting Walmart for Black Friday deals, consider this: The workers who ring up all those mega-deals are suffering. And now they are risking everything to make a change. Some Walmart workers will put their jobs on the line this Friday and stand up to the giant-big box store, going on strike to protest poor, unsafe working conditions; low wages; irregular hours and the company’s retaliation against workers who speak out.”
Help Walmart employees win the respect they deserve.
· Take the Black Friday Pledge to stands with workers at your local Walmart
· Sponsor a brave striker with a $50 grocery gift donation
· Visit share for respect on Facebook and keep Walmart workers you know informed
· Spread the word on the Black Friday Walmart Strike
· Use hashtag #walmartstrikers and follow Making Change at Walmart on Twitter
Help Walmart workers secure decent wages, a safe workplace, manageable hours and the respect they deserve. Send a message to Walmart. Shop made in America on Black Friday.
- I would like to thank all of our members, their families and friends who went to New York the past two Saturdays to help stuff book bags for students who were displaced because of Hurricane Sandy. Your generosity is appreciated.
- I am holding a meeting for all secretaries on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at the BTU Office at 5 p.m. I am looking forward to meeting with you.
- The Metro Council AFL-CIO is currently taking requests for Christmas baskets. If you know a member who might need a Christmas basket, please send the application to the AFL-CIO, 2701 W. Patapsco Ave., Suite 110 Baltimore, MD 21230 no later than December 7, 2012. The application is available on our website, www.baltimoreteachers.org. We are also accepting can goods and non-perishable food items for the Food Pantry. You can drop them off at the Baltimore Teachers Union. Safe travels and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
We have lots of actions coming this week outside of normal community meetings I hope all are attending. First I'd like to comment on the Walmart protests across the country. I encourage people to view labor websites for actions that happened as mainstream media will not cover these actions beyond a 15 second clip.. Here in Maryland, we had one of the biggest in the country and Baltimore is teaming with union/labor actions. Please look below at the growing alliances of labor groups.
'I CAN'T PROTEST BECAUSE I KNOW THEY WILL FIRE ME....IF NOT TODAY, THEN LATER.'
'I AM FEARFUL OF PROTESTING BECAUSE LAWS AND POLICE ARE MORE RESTRICTIVE.....I DON'T WANT TROUBLE'.
'I HATE SHOPPING TODAY BUT I NEED THE SALES AS I DON'T EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE WHAT I NEED'.
These are all of what you hear as you talk to people around Walmart. So, when you hear news telling you the protests were small or that Walmart employees weren't involved.....this is why. The story you don't hear is that the purpose of these events is to give voice to these people who are being SILENCED.
WHAT KINDS OF COUNTRIES HAVE CITIZENS WHO FEEL THIS WAY? AUTHORITARIAN COUNTRIES! THIS IS NOT A FEELING A FREE, DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY EXUDES.
Remember, we are looking to alternative media for our news and we are creating our own web or newsletters that are shared in our communities. We are finding political candidates from our labor and justice organizations to run against
incumbents.
Walmart Employees Protest Retail Giant On Biggest Shopping Day Of Holiday Season
November 23, 2012 2:47 PM WJZ TV Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — As customers race to Walmart for Black Friday deals, some of the store’s employees are walking off the job. Demonstrations spark up in Maryland and across the county.
Monique Griego was there as protesters made their voices heard.
Sky Eye Chopper 13 was there as a line of hundreds of protesters stopped traffic with a March against Walmart in Prince George’s County.
“Walmart, Walmart you’re no good. Treat your workers like you should!” protesters chanted.
The demonstration continued in Laurel.
“Oh how sad it is our plight to work for crappy pay,” protesters chanted.
Walmart workers and their supporters are demanding the retail giant improve working conditions.
“Better wages respect from the managers,” one employee said.
Employees are taking a stand on the busiest shopping day of the year.
“It’s when Walmart makes the most profits, and we want to send a strong message to the community and consumers that we expect better for them,” an employee said.
The demonstrations here in Maryland were part of a bigger movement nationwide.
In California, as shoppers lined up for Black Friday deals outside, angry workers formed a picket line.
Greg Fletcher is among the workers demanding cheaper benefits.
He’s worked at Walmart for six years and makes $10.70 an hour.
“Unfortunately for my wife and two kids, we can’t afford the benefits package from Walmart. If we bought it, we couldn’t afford a roof over our heads, so it’s frustrating,” Fletcher said.
Union-backed groups helped organize these protests, and representatives told us this is just the beginning of a pressure being put on Walmart.
A Walmart spokesman called the protests a union publicity-stunt and says many of the demonstrators don’t even work at Walmart.
________________________________________________
SUPPORT THESE GROUPS WITH TIME AND DONATIONS!!!!!!
Celebrate United Workers’ 10th Year Anniversary! Posted in Events, Fight for Fair Development, Unity on November 9th, 2012 by Mike –
Join the United Workers on December 1 as we celebrate 10 years of movement building in Baltimore and across Maryland. We will be remembering key moments in the United Workers’ struggle and looking forward to the next ten years with an amazing and diverse panel of civic and cultural leaders from throughout Baltimore.
Panelists include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Taylor Branch, WEAA radio host and local politics expert Anthony McCarthy, human rights activist Lea Gilmore, and United Workers leaders.
Following the panel there will be a reception with light food and soft drinks. Baltimore’s Labor Chorus, folk musician Ryan Harvey, and other guest musicians will be performing.
Visit unitedworkers.org in the coming weeks, where we’ll be remembering our past, celebrating the present, and looking forward to the future with words from our leaders and archival pictures and video.
What: 10th Year Anniversary Celebration
When: Saturday, December 1, 3-6pm
Where: James McHenry Recreation Center (911 Hollins Street, Baltimore, MD 21223)
Bus routes: 1, 8, 10, 15, 20, 35, 36, 48, and orange circulator
To purchase tickets email us at info@unitedworkers.org or go to http://unitedworkers10th.eventbrite.com/#
_________________________________________________
IF YOU GO TO ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH YOU WILL NOT SEE THIS MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT. I RECEIVE IT BECAUSE I AM ON A MAILING LIST......SO WHY WOULD THIS ADVOCACY GROUP NOT HAVE THESE MEETINGS LISTED? IT IS NOT ON MARYLAND EDUCATION COALITION'S OR BALTIMORE EDUCATION COALITION WEBSITES EITHER.
IT IS BECAUSE IT IS NOT AN OPEN MEETING. YOU ATTEND IT ONLY IF YOU ARE INVITED.
You have successfully registered for MEC's Annual Meeting 2012. We look forward to seeing you Wednesday, November 28th from 6:00 - 9:00 at the Charles I. Ecker Business Training Center at the Gateway Campus of Howard Community College in Columbia.
For directions: http://coned.howardcc.edu/business_and_workforce_development/meeting_facilities/gateway.html
Sincerely,
Advocates for Children and Youth
________________________________________________
Rally to Support the Hyatt Baltimore Workers
Thursday, December 13, 2012
4:30-6pm
Meet at McKeldin Square
(Corner of Light St. and Pratt St., Baltimore MD)
The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has issued a complaint against the Hyatt Regency Baltimore for
violating federal labor law. The federal agency is prosecuting Hyatt,
alleging a variety of unlawful activities, such as unjustly firing union
supporters, threatening workers with arrest for lawfully leafleting
customers on Hyatt property, threatening workers for supporting the union,
disciplining union supporters unjustly, and surveilling union activity. A
trial is set for January.
Workers at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore have been organizing since early June
2012. The majority of hotels in Baltimore are nonunion, and the effort by
Hyatt Regency workers to organize is the first of its kind at that hotel in
decades. City leaders hoped to revive the Baltimore economy by investing in
the hospitality industry, and the Hyatt Regency was the first heavily
subsidized major hotel project in Baltimore. Sadly today, many jobs at the
Hyatt are subcontracted to workers earning poverty wages with no benefits.
Please join us at this important rally to support the Hyatt workers!
_______________________________________________
EVERYONE CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT, SCHOOLS, AND POLICE BRUTALITY IN BALTIMORE SHOULD COME TO THIS EVENT. THESE ARE THE LEADERS WHO ARE JOINING THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS OF THE ENTERPRISE ZONES AS AFFLUENT COMMUNITIES BY MOVING THE LOWER/WORKING CLASS OUT OF THESE COMMUNITIES. COMMUNICATE WITH THESE LEADERS.....ASSOCIATED BLACK CHARITIES, BUILD, AND MICHAEL SARBANES........ALL SUPPORTING CHARTER SCHOOLS AND CHOICE THAT ARE MARGINALIZING AND MOVING THE UNDERSERVED FROM URBAN AREAS, ALL SUPPORTING THE DEMOGRAPHIC RATIO OF 20 UNDERSERVED FAMILIES PER AFFLUENT SCHOOL/COMMUNITY AS THE MASTER PLAN FOR HOUSING DICTATES, AND ALL SUPPORTING THE USE OF PRIVATE NON-PROFITS TO REPLACE PUBLICLY RUN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, THE NATURE OF WHICH UNDERMINES A COMMUNITY'S ABILITY TO BUILD ITS OWN LEADERS AND MOVE ITS OWN AGENDAS AND ALLOWS CORPORATIONS TO CIRCUMVENT GOVERNMENT COFFERS AND GENERAL FUNDING TO TARGET DONATIONS THAT SUIT PERSONAL GAINS.
THAT IS WHAT THESE 3 GUESTS REPRESENT AND I WILL BE INTERESTED TO HEAR HOW THEY FRAME THE ISSUE OF RACE GIVEN THESE PUBLIC STANCES THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE.
"Race: The Power of an Illusion" PLEASE NOTE! WE'VE POSTPONED THIS SCREENING BECAUSE OF THE STORM. IT WAS SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 29. IT'S BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4.
Please join us Tuesday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. for a screening and panel discussion of Race: The Power of an Illusion. This free event will be in the Wheeler Auditorium at the Pratt Central Library.
Race: The Power of an Illusion - free screening and panel discussion
NOTE NEW DATE: Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m.
Wheeler Auditorium
Enoch Pratt Free Library
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
This powerful hour-long documentary traces the effect of public policy—particularly in housing—on inequality in America. It features law professor john a. powell, a guest for the October 26 "Lines Between Us" segment about public housing, and it lays out at the national level many of the issues that our series is grappling with at the regional level.
Maryland Morning host Sheilah Kast will serve as moderator for the post-screening discussion. Panelists include:
- Diane Bell-McKoy, President & CEO, Associated Black Charities
- Bishop Douglas Miles, organizer of Baltimore's Koinonia Baptist Church and Clergy Co-Chair of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD)
- Michael Sarbanes, executive director, Baltimore City Public Schools' Office of Engagement and co-chair, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
Are you going? Head over to Facebook to "join" the event and share it with your friends!
This event is presented in partnership with the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Race: The Power of an Illusion was produced by California Newsreel.
_____________________________________________
THANKS FOR THIS SUPPORTIVE MESSAGE FROM OUR MARYLAND TEACHER'S UNION!!!!!
Message from BTU President, Marietta English Week at a Glance. . .
- Many of us will travel to different places to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones. Some will remain at home. However as you celebrate the holiday, please keep in your thoughts those members and their families that won’t be together for the holidays because they are serving our great nation and protecting our freedom.
- Black Friday is the biggest sales day for many retailers. I would like to leave you with this message from Randi Weingarten our national president. “Before you consider hitting Walmart for Black Friday deals, consider this: The workers who ring up all those mega-deals are suffering. And now they are risking everything to make a change. Some Walmart workers will put their jobs on the line this Friday and stand up to the giant-big box store, going on strike to protest poor, unsafe working conditions; low wages; irregular hours and the company’s retaliation against workers who speak out.”
Help Walmart employees win the respect they deserve.
· Take the Black Friday Pledge to stands with workers at your local Walmart
· Sponsor a brave striker with a $50 grocery gift donation
· Visit share for respect on Facebook and keep Walmart workers you know informed
· Spread the word on the Black Friday Walmart Strike
· Use hashtag #walmartstrikers and follow Making Change at Walmart on Twitter
Help Walmart workers secure decent wages, a safe workplace, manageable hours and the respect they deserve. Send a message to Walmart. Shop made in America on Black Friday.
- I would like to thank all of our members, their families and friends who went to New York the past two Saturdays to help stuff book bags for students who were displaced because of Hurricane Sandy. Your generosity is appreciated.
- I am holding a meeting for all secretaries on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at the BTU Office at 5 p.m. I am looking forward to meeting with you.
- The Metro Council AFL-CIO is currently taking requests for Christmas baskets. If you know a member who might need a Christmas basket, please send the application to the AFL-CIO, 2701 W. Patapsco Ave., Suite 110 Baltimore, MD 21230 no later than December 7, 2012. The application is available on our website, www.baltimoreteachers.org. We are also accepting can goods and non-perishable food items for the Food Pantry. You can drop them off at the Baltimore Teachers Union. Safe travels and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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