>
> WW News Service Digest #119
>
> 1) Report on demonstration for Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham
> by "Gary Wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2) Los Angeles: 20,000 rally for immigrant workers
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 3) On the picket line: 6/29/00
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 4) NYPD blues: Springsteen vs. cop racism
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 5) COINTELPRO-style break-in at Mumia office
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 6) Yugoslavia: Not so isolated after all
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>June 23, 2000
>For Immediate Release
>
>ORGANIZERS VOW TO STAND STRONG AND MAINTAIN ANTI-
>DEATH PENALTY MOMENTUM IN THE FACE OF "THE BIGGEST
>LEGAL LYNCHING IN THE HISTORY OF THE U.S."
>
>In a statement from Houston this morning, anti-death penalty activist
>Larry Holmes of Millions for Mumia called last night's execution of
>Gary Graham (Shaka Sankofa) by the state of Texas "The biggest legal
>lynching in the history of the United States". Holmes saw the
>execution as a clear-cut case of racist government terror tactics.
>"Everybody knew he was innocent-even the conservative New York
>Times ran three editorials questioning his guilt. And yet before the
>eyes of the world, Governor Bush and the reactionary Texas political
>establishment said, 'We don't care. We'll kill him anyway.' And they
>did."
>
>Organizers stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum of
>the anti-death penalty movement at this critical moment in the
>struggle. Teresa Gutierrez of the International Action Center stated,
>"What they are doing here is a test, to see what people will let them
>get away with. They are trying to throw cold water on the fire of this
>movement, to make people think that there is nothing they can do to
>stop this killing machine. We need to show them that we will not lie
>down while they kill our brothers and sisters." Looking ahead to the
>next stage of the fight against the death penalty, Holmes said, "What
>freedom loving people all over the world are obliged to do is make
>sure that Gary Graham (Shaka Sankofa) did not die in vain. We have
>to turn our deep anger at this crime into a war against the racist death
>penalty that will end it once and for all. The principle targets in this
>war must be George Bush, Jr., and the republican convention, but also
>Al Gore and President Clinton and the Democratic convention. Not
>only is the Democratic leadership pro-death penalty, but they said
>nothing to stop this from happening."
>
>In New York, anti-death penalty protesters took to the streets at noon
>yesterday and were still out in force as Gary Graham's execution was
>announced at 9:49 pm local time. At noon demonstrators gathered in a
>picket line at New York Republican Party headquarters at the
>Roosevelt Hotel, located at 46th St. and Madison Avenue. The lunch-
>hour crowd of over two hundred people diminished in size during the
>afternoon, but protesters maintained an energetic and militant
>presence. The picket grew again at 5 pm to over four hundred people,
>and at 5:45, the group began a march to Times Square. At
>approximately 6 pm the group halted in the middle of the intersection
>of 42nd St. and Broadway, blocking rush-hour traffic. When the police
>gave the order to disperse, a group of ten protesters locked arms in
>the middle of the street, refused to move, and were arrested. When
>the execution was announced, protesters began chanting "Shaka lives,
>fight the power!" and "Avenge Shaka, free Mumia!" Eight people
>were also arrested in Texas at the massive protest there, and many
>other solidarity protests took place around the country.
>
>Two of the New York arrestees have already been released, and the
>rest will be arraigned this afternoon and evening. All ten were
>charged with blocking traffic, and some with resisting arrest.
>
>Activists plan to next target the Republican Convention in Philadelphia
>and the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles this summer to
>demand the freedom for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
>
>--30--
>
>International Action Center
>39 West 14th Street, Room 206
>New York, NY 10011
>email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>web: www.iacenter.org
>CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
>phone: 212 633-6646
>fax: 212 633-2889
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <005b01bfdd68$fddf9990$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Los Angeles: 20,000 rally for immigrant workers
>Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 19:15:59 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 29, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>LOS ANGELES: 20,000 RALLY FOR IMMIGRANT WORKERS
>
>By Mary Owen
>
>More than 20,000 immigrant workers, union members and
>their supporters packed the Los Angeles Sports Arena June
>10 for the fourth and biggest AFL-CIO forum on immigrant
>workers' rights.
>
>The event coincided with the kickoff of the federation's
>national "7 Days in June" campaign--a week of events
>highlighting the obstacles workers face in their efforts to
>join unions.
>
>"Aqui estamos y no nos vamos [We are here to stay and we
>are not leaving]," roared the multinational crowd at
>several points during the program.
>
>Immigrants, including many undocumented workers, waved
>flags from their homelands. They included Mexico, Peru,
>Korea, Thailand and a host of other countries.
>
>So many people flocked to the historic event that fire
>officials locked the entrance doors to the arena to prevent
>a safety hazard. The thousands of workers who remained
>outside staged a spirited march around the arena chanting:
>"What do we want? Amnesty! When do we want it? Now!"
>
>AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson
>told the cheering crowd: "We are on the side of working
>people everywhere. We don't care if their families came
>here on the Mayflower or slave ships 400 years ago, or 100
>years ago through Ellis Island, or 25 years ago on a plane
>from Manila, or last year across the Mexican border."
>
>In February, pushed by immigrant communities and labor
>activists, the AFL-CIO Executive Council passed a
>resolution calling for major reform of U.S. immigration
>laws.
>
>The government routinely uses these laws to punish workers
>while letting sweatshop bosses off the hook. The federation
>demanded the repeal of a 14-year-old federal law that
>supposedly barred employers from hiring the undocumented,
>but in reality only deepened the exploitation of these
>workers via the illegal, underground economy.
>
>Above all, immigrant workers--who are joining unions in
>record numbers--have fueled the AFL-CIO's positive turn on
>immigrant rights. From the hotel and grocery industries to
>meat packing and manufacturing, these courageous workers
>have stood up for their rights.
>
>Meanwhile, the bosses have used immigration laws to try to
>thwart union organizing--reporting undocumented workers to
>the Immigration and Naturalization Service as soon as a
>union victory is won.
>
>"Time after time," said Chavez-Thompson, "we see employers
>try to divide us from our sisters and brothers. They try to
>pit immigrants against non-immigrants, documented against
>undocumented, and try to drive down the wages and working
>conditions of all."
>
>At the vibrant Los Angeles forum, as at previous forums in
>New York, Chicago and Atlanta, immigrant workers testified
>about their situation.
>
>"Bosses will use immigration against us when they can't
>beat us in other ways," said Maria Sanchez, a Mexican
>immigrant who works as a hotel cleaner in Salinas, Calif.
>"Amnesty will give all workers the right to win respect."
>
>"Looking for a better future for our families is not
>illegal," Seattle construction worker Jose Angel Juarez
>Falcon told the cheering crowd.
>
>The change in AFL-CIO immigration policy has touched off a
>struggle within the labor federation. A few unions,
>particularly in the building trades, take a narrow,
>protectionist view. They don't see the benefits of
>embracing immigrant workers and welcoming them into the
>labor movement. The AFL-CIO national office has even
>received hate mail emanating from some of these unions and
>their more backward members.
>
>But by drawing tens of thousands of immigrant workers and
>their supporters to forums across the country, the labor
>movement's forward-looking wing is answering these backward
>elements with a strong show of solidarity with immigrant
>workers and their communities. The tremendous turnout in
>Los Angeles shows that immigrant workers--who by 2005 are
>expected to make up 25 percent of the labor force--are
>responding as never before.
>
>"The rights of working people and the rights of immigrants
>are one and the same," said Chavez-Thompson at the end of
>the Los Angeles forum.
>
>"In the past, this movement has fought for the rights of
>Irish and Italian and Slovak workers--for African Americans
>and Asian Americans and Latinos--for working women and
>lesbians and gays and workers with disabilities. I promise
>you here and now that we're fighting for exactly the same
>thing for exactly the same reasons for this generation of
>immigrants in the work place."
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <006101bfdd69$188e3260$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] On the picket line: 6/29/00
>Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 19:16:44 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 29, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>ON THE PICKET LINE
>
>`PARADE OF RATS'
>
>A ferocious team of 10 giant, inflated pro-labor rats
>spanned Union Square Park on June 15, standing guard over a
>New York rally for the right to organize. The "Parade of
>Rats" was part of the AFL-CIO's national "7 Days in June"
>campaign. This campaign highlights workers' struggles to
>gain what the AFL-CIO terms a "voice at work" by joining
>unions.
>
>"We're here at this big rat march to say to every rat out
>there that if you try to jeopardize our jobs, we will step
>on you," said Hector Figueroa of Service Employees Local
>32B-32J, which represents building janitors and door
>attendants. A delegation of janitors cheered as Figueroa
>announced that the rally also coincided with "Justice for
>Janitors Day."
>
>The crowd represented a cross-section of labor struggles.
>Workers from Time Warner Cable described their fight to
>join the Communication Workers union. An African American
>band from the Apollo Theater, which is trying to join
>Musicians Local 802, belted out, "People around the world,
>join hands, join a union, a union" to the tune of "Love
>Train."
>
>Limousine drivers organizing with the Machinists union,
>Longshore union members on strike at Domino Sugar, Mexican
>grocery workers who have won victories with Local 169 of
>UNITE, Museum of Modern Art strikers and New York
>University graduate students fighting to be recognized as
>part of the Auto Workers--all talked about the importance
>of solidarity for their struggles.
>
>Three years ago, New York had only one two-story inflated
>rat, owned by the Building and Construction Trades. It
>loomed outside non-union construction sites around the
>city. A year later there were three or four union rats
>appearing at scores of locations to draw attention to
>exploitative bosses and help workers win their fight. Now,
>as organizing has picked up, the inflated rat population
>has more than doubled.
>
>Most of the feisty rodents have a number of labor
>victories to their credit, but their mission is far from
>complete. So the crowd cheered when BCT President Ed Malloy
>promised, "If any union has a problem with any employer or
>agency in the city or the state, just call us up and we'll
>make sure our rat is at your job!"
>
>STRAWBERRY PICKERS ORGANIZE
>
>Despite vicious efforts by strawberry bosses to thwart the
>Farm Workers union, on May 4 the union gained the right to
>represent more than 700 strawberry pickers in Oxnard,
>Calif. A decision by the state's Agricultural Labor
>Relations Board paved the way for Ventura County strawberry
>pickers to be represented by the Farm Workers for the first
>time in two decades.
>
>However, the same ruling also contained a setback for
>straw berry organizing. It allowed a bogus company union--
>Coastal Berry of California Farm Workers Committee--to
>represent about 1,200 pickers in Monterey and Santa Cruz
>counties.
>
>The bosses in California's $600-million-a-year strawberry
>industry have been dead set against the Farm Workers
>representing any of the workers. While the AFL-CIO gave
>unprecedented backing to the union's efforts to organize
>more than 20,000 pickers, the bosses got busy undercutting
>this campaign. The agribusiness giants organized the "Farm
>Workers Committee" to counter the real union drive, and
>fostered all kinds of intimidation and violence to deny
>
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