Labor Beat: Iraq Labor Conference

IVAW at International Labor Conference in Iraq - excerpt

Short excerpt of upcoming Labor Beat video. IVAW member Aaron Hughes talks about his speech at the recent March 13-14, 2009 International Labor Conference in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Look for full show in the near future, with additional footage from Japan Peace TV/Sana TV. Video by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. For info: Labor Beat.org. For other Labor Beat videos, visit Google Video or YouTube and search "Labor Beat".

I have an earlier report posted from just after the conference

Workers Rise Up and Fight for Righteous Compensation for Our Labors!!

Protesters said they wanted to make their voices heard but avoid strike action

Huge protest over Irish economy

About 100,000 people have taken part in protests in Dublin city centre to vent their anger at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession.

What's next for Republic Windows & Doors Workers?

What happened at that Chicago manufacturing plant brought back alot of memories of how extremely talented workers fought for what they knew were their rights, decent wages for their labor, on the job safety, trading wages for benefits like health and welfare directly and much much more. Fights that shouldn't have really happened in a real model of capitalism where all should share directly in the quality and growth of their work and the companies they work for.

We need to return to that pride in company and product, quality products and customer service, correcting the defaults, and growth for all, owners, workers, and investors.

We like to use the term 'Strong on National Security' and one political party tries to lay claim to the phrase, trouble is having others build and produce the products and services, in other countries, leaves ours without the experiance and knowledge, thus without the ability to get that security if ever needed. And that political party is the one leading in pushing our trades and knowledge to offshore venues, we have already lost many trades and abilities over these last couple of decades, those who did that work are gone or will be!

Lets look at what's asked in the subject title:

Well it looks like they've got a plan, and a plan that can be followed by others, but first lets look at what they got for their nonviolent action for their rights, rights under the law of this land:

After 6 days occupying the plant, workers at Republic Window and Doors in Chicago voted to accept a settlement late last night.

The settlement totals $1.75million. It will provide the workers with:

* Eight weeks of pay they are owed under the Federal WARN Act

* Two months of continued health coverage, and

* Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.

JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the "Window of Opportunity Fund" dedicated to re-opening the plant.

As the Local 1110 leaders characterized the settlement, "We fought to make them pay what they owe us, and we won." Read more about the settlement here.

They also sent along a "Thank You":

We want to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this campaign. The tremendous support and solidarity from the thousands of people like you around the country - and the world - who took the time to send messages to Bank of America and who rallied at banks across the country was crucial in winning this victory.

This is truly an historic victory for workers in the United States.

But this struggle is just the beginning! As the economic crisis deepens we need to launch a working class fight back. Rallies for a "People's Bailout" will continue today and throughout the rest of the week. Click here to find an action near you {updated daily}. You can also take action online.

* Tell Congress: We Demand a People's Bailout

* Save Autoworker Jobs

* VOTE NOW for Grinch of the Year

Thanks again for all that you do! You can see photos, video, and press clips from the Week of Action here.

In todays Chicago Tribune they lay out what is on the workers minds, they won their fight for their rights but like many in this collapsing economy they are now out of jobs.

The six-day sit-in by former workers at the shuttered Republic Windows & Doors plant won them money and benefits, but they're still out of work, leading them and others to say they'll try to reopen the factory as they hope what they did provides a spark of hope for a beleaguered labor movement.

While they tried,

Union negotiators were unable to obtain a commitment from the parties to reopen the Goose Island plant, said United Electrical Workers organizer Mark Meinster. So the union has decided to forge ahead to find someone new to run the plant, he said, using some of the money donated from around the world during the sit-in.

City officials have voiced their support for work to resume in the building, which is owned by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

"There are assets in there," said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), who said he has contacted companies to see whether they are interested in moving into the plant.

The deal struck for the workers was hailed by some as a symbolic victory for American workers facing a difficult economic climate. Robert Bruno, a labor expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the peaceful occupation might set an example for others faced with abrupt layoffs.

And as a Representative of his Districts People says:

"This Republic Windows saga, I'm sure, is reverberating throughout boardrooms in America," said U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez {D-Ill.}, who moderated the negotiations.

And it shouldn't be only because of the action taken by these workers to force The Law of This Country to be Followed, laws are not only to be followed by some they are to be followed by all!

And this spin, propaganda, group think, that passes as fact should end, that Labor Costs, Wages and Benefits are what takes down companies and economies, while we Totally Ignore the Packages of the Executives, from top down throughout the executive structure and the wheeling and dealings on Wall Street and in our Governments, Federal, State and Local, the greed and incompetence across all these must stop, and rewarding those who are incompetent and fully behind the greed must also stop, especially as workers wages and benefits are stagnant across the board for many years while corporate leadership aren't, for as we're watching and living That's What Brings Down Companies and Economies!

While it will be extremely difficult to obtain financing to restructure companies with the worker input, and that's a must, we need to rebuild a new system, a real Capitalist System where All benefit not just the hand full, we are seeing the results of that last, Everyone Loses, Everyone!!

Oh and a not so little secret, for it's what built this countries economy up till some twenty to thirty years ago, not everyone wants nor needs a piece of paper telling them and others they gained knowledge from so called places of Higher Education. Skills and Experience aren't taught there, skills many feel they have or have developed through their own interests they seek to develop further and get compensated as well as feel good about using and developing those skills. Interests outside of work are sought not only to satisfy a curiosity but a need to learn more about them. Education is a lifelong experience and want for most, it just depends on how one seeks out that education and not being forced into.

July 21 in History

Brought to you as This week in History by Peace Buttons.



July 21, 1954

Major world powers, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, reached agreement on the terms of a ceasefire for Indochina, ending nearly eight years of war. The war began in 1946 between nationalist forces of the Communist Viet Minh, under leader Ho Chi Minh, and France, the occupying colonial power following Japanese control during World War II.
The Geneva conference included France, the United Kingdom, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., People’s Republic of China, Cambodia, Laos, and both Vietnamese governments.

It ended with a peace treaty that called for independence for Vietnam and a 1956 election to unify the country. However, only France and Ho Chi Minh's DRV (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) signed the document.
The United States did not approve of the agreement. Instead, they backed Emperor Boa Dai and Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem’s government in South Vietnam and refused to allow the elections, knowing, in Pres. Eisenhower’s words, that “Ho Chi Minh will win.” The result was the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War.

Though we were reported as helping transport French troops to Vietnam our real history, in Indo-China, starts shortly after the above.

Read about the signing of the treaty with the French

The fall of Dien Bien Phu signalled defeat for France in Indo-China

President Dwight D Eisenhower said in a statement from Washington the agreement contained elements which he did not like - such as the division of Vietnam between north and south - and a great deal depended on how they worked in practice.

Senate leaders from both parties went one step further and expressed their alarm at what is widely regarded as a victory for Communism.

What followed the treaty and our start of destructive Indo-China History


July 21, 1878

The eight-hour was an established concept before the song. Shown is an 1856 banner from Melbourne, Australia.

Publication of "Eight Hours," written by Rev. Jesse H. Jones (music) and I.G. Blanchard (lyrics), the most popular labor song until "Solidarity Forever" was published by the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) in 1915.

Eight-Hours
Rev. Jesse H. Jones (music)
I.G. Blanchard (lyrics)

We mean to make things over,
We are tired of toil for naught
With but bare enough to live upon
And ne'er an hour for thought.
We want to feel the sunshine
And we want to smell the flow'rs
We are sure that God has willed it
And we mean to have eight hours;
We're summoning our forces
From the shipyard, shop and mill

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

The beasts that graze the hillside,
And the birds that wander free,
In the life that God has meted,
Have a better life than we.
Oh, hands and hearts are weary,
And homes are heavy with dole;
If our life's to be filled with drudg'ry,
What need of a human soul.
Shout, shout the lusty rally,
From shipyard, shop, and mill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

The voice of God within us
Is calling us to stand
Erect as is becoming
To the work of His right hand.
Should he, to whom the Maker
His glorious image gave,
The meanest of His creatures crouch,
A bread-and-butter slave?
Let the shout ring down the valleys
And echo from every hill.

Ye deem they're feeble voices
That are raised in labor's cause,
But bethink ye of the torrent,
And the wild tornado's laws.
We say not toil's uprising
In terror's shape will come,
Yet the world were wise to listen
To the monetary hum.
Soon, soon the deep toned rally
Shall all the nations thrill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

From factories and workshops
In long and weary lines,
From all the sweltering forges,
And from out the sunless mines,
Wherever toil is wasting
The force of life to live
There the bent and battered armies
Come to claim what God doth give
And the blazon on the banner
Doth with hope the nation fill:

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

Hurrah, hurrah for labor,
For it shall arise in might
It has filled the world with plenty,
It shall fill the world with light
Hurrah, hurrah for labor,
It is mustering all its powers
And shall march along to victory
With the banner of Eight Hours.
Shout, shout the echoing rally
Till all the welkin thrill.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will;
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

Visit their site and sign up for their newsletter, and celebrate the 50th year of the Peace Symbol.

This Week in Peace History

Sign up for their Newsletter or just save their site as a favorite and visit each week to find just abit of the Real History that helps bring about needed Change and Corrective Direction of a Country, World, and Democracies, forcing Democracies to become so and maintain their Freedoms.

You can find this weeks newsletter here of which I've borrowed a few moments of to pass on to you, below.

April 14, 1988
The Soviet Union signed an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after ten years. The pact, drawn up in negotiations between the United States, the USSR, Pakistan and Afghanistan, was signed at a United Nations ceremony in the Swiss capital of Geneva.

April 15, 1967
Amidst growing opposition to the war in Vietnam, large-scale anti-war protests were held in New York, San Francisco and other cities. In New York, the protest began in Central Park, where over 150 draft cards were burned, and included a march to the United Nations led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

April 16, 1971
Members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) threw medals they had earned in Vietnam on the U.S. Capitol steps in protest of the Vietnam War.

April 17, 1960
Inspired by the Greensboro sit-in by four black college students at an all-white lunch counter, nearly 150 black students from nine states formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Ella Baker, James Lawson and Martin Luther King, Jr., the founders set SNCC’s initial goals as overturning segregation in the South and giving young blacks a stronger voice in the civil rights movement. By that time, in mid-April 1960, 50,000 or more students had participated in sit-ins over just the previous three months.
At the Raleigh conference Guy Carawan sang a new version of “We Shall Overcome,” an adaptation of an old labor song. This song would become the national anthem of the civil rights movement. People joined hands and gently swayed in time singing “black and white together,” repeating over and over, “Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day.”
History of SNCC*****SNCC website

They have a few Historical events for April 17. The above is one of many events, in the civil rights movement that moved this Country in the Right Direction, but in many ways we haven't reached the goals We As A Democracy of Freedoms that should be the Natural of our Culture, as we Preach to Others about Democracy and Freedom, and Today We Bomb Others In The Name Of Democracy And Freedom! {Think they'll accept? Think Again!}

April 18, 1912
Members of the United Mine Workers of America on Paint Creek in Kanawha County, West Virginia, demanded wages equal to those of other area mines. The operators rejected the wage increase and miners walked off the job. Miners along nearby Cabin Creek, having previously lost their union, joined the Paint Creek strikers and demanded:
• the right to organize
• recognition of their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly
• an end to blacklisting union organizers
• alternatives to company stores
• an end to the practice of using mine guards
• prohibition of cribbing
• installation of scales at all mines for accurately weighing coal
• unions be allowed to hire their own checkweighmen to make sure the companies' checkweighmen were not cheating the miners.
When the strike began, operators brought in mine guards from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to evict miners and their families from company houses. The evicted miners set up tent colonies and lived in other makeshift housing. The mine guards' primary responsibility was to break the strike by making the lives of the miners as uncomfortable as possible.

Mine workers came along way but also not as far as they should have. We've seen what the power of greed and collaboration between mine owners and goverment representatives have brought forth in these last few years, mine collapses with numbers of deaths, mountaintop mining which is destroying this countries natural enviroment and natural beauty doing extreme damage to the surrounding enviroment as well. And it isn't only in the mining industry, it's across the board for the once Proud Hard Working middle class Americans, as we've rapidly moved towards a slave labor mentality, with the wealthy gaining wealth well beyond any individual need and those who reap that wealth for them sliding backward in wages and benefits!

The Spirit of Solidarity -- a $1.3 million granite sculpture, plaza and fountain -- sits on the land of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum on the banks of the Grand River near the Indian mounds
April 19, 1911
More than 6,000 Grand Rapids, Michigan, furniture workers – Germans, Dutch, Lithuanians, and Poles – put down their tools and struck 59 factories in what became known as the Great Furniture Strike.
For four months they campaigned and picketed for higher pay, shorter hours, and an end to the piecework pay system that was common in the plants of America’s “Furniture City.” Although the strike ended after four months without a resolution, Gordon Olson, Grand Rapids city historian emeritus, said once employees returned to work most owners did increase pay and reduce hours.

Also on April 19 but in 1971

As a prelude to a massive anti-war protest, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) began a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C. The generally peaceful protest was called Dewey Canyon III in honor of the operation of the same name conducted in Laos. They lobbied their congressmen, laid wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery, and staged mock "search-and-destroy" missions.

Led by Gold Star Mothers (mothers of soldiers killed in war), more than 1,100 veterans marched across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge to the Arlington Cemetery gate, just beneath the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A memorial service for their peers was conducted by Reverend Jackson H. Day, who had just a few days earlier resigned his military chaplainship. In addition to his passages of scripture and citations of poetry was a personal statement, including the following:

April 20, 1853
Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, a network of people and places that aided in the escape of slaves to the north.
read a brief biography of Harriet Tubman

Visit the Newsletter site page for more

Bullets aren't used to Force Others into Democracy and Freedom, the Freedom is within, the Democracy comes from that!

Bullets should Only Be Used as an Absolute Last Resort to Quell Violence and help maintain a Peaceful Order directly after as the people workout their differances, and Wars Of Choice should be Globally Condemned with those forcing others into Brought To Justice as Criminals Against Humankind!!