>continue to stand together. > >Rev. Jesse Jackson, know that this murder, this lynching >will not be forgotten. I love you, too, my brother. This is >genocide in America. This is what happens to Black men when >they stand up and protest for what is right and just. We >refuse to compromise, we refuse to surrender the dignity >for what we know is right. But we will move on, we have >been strong in the past. We will continue to be strong as a >people. You can kill a revolutionary, but you cannot stop >the revolution. The revolution will go on. The people will >carry the revolution on. You are the people that must carry >that revolutionary on, in order to liberate our children >from this genocide and for what is happening here in >America tonight. > >What has happened for the last 100 or so years in America. >This is the part of the genocide, this is part of the >African holocaust, that we as Black people have endured in >America. But we shall overcome, we will continue with this. >We will continue, we will gain our freedom and liberation, >by any means necessary. Stay strong. They cannot kill us. >We will move forward. > >To my sons, to my daughters, all of you. I love all of >you. You have been wonderful. Keep your heads up. Keep >moving forward. Keep united. Maintain the love and unity in >the community. > >And know that victory is assured. Victory for the people >will be assured. We will gain our freedom and liberation in >this country. We will gain it and we will do it by any >means necessary. > >`WE ARE GOING TO END THE DEATH PENALTY' > >We will keep marching. March on Black people. Keep your >heads high. March on. All y'all leaders. March on. Take >your message to the people. Preach the moratorium for all >executions. We're gonna stop, we are going to end the death >penalty in this country. We are going to end it all across >this world. > >Push forward people. And know that what y'all are doing is >right. What y'all are doing is just. This is nothing more >that pure and simple murder. This is what is happening >tonight in America. Nothing more than state-sanctioned >murders, state-sanctioned lynching, right here in America, >and right here tonight. This is what is happening, my >brothers. Nothing less. > >They know I'm innocent. They've got the facts to prove it. >They know I'm innocent. But they cannot acknowledge my >innocence, because to do so would be to publicly admit >their guilt. This is something these racist people will >never do. > >We must remember brothers, this is what we're faced with. >You must take this endeavor forward. You must stay strong. >You must continue to hold your heads up, and to be there. >And I love you, too, my brother. All of you who are >standing with me in solidarity. We will prevail. We will >keep marching. > >Keep marching Black people, Black power. Keep marching >Black people, Black power. Keep marching Black people. Keep >marching Black people. They are killing me tonight. They >are murdering me tonight. > > > >[Transcript released by the Texas Department of >Corrections] > > - 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: <01d401bfe43e$fe8b23a0$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] On the picket line: 7/6/2000 >Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 12:02:59 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 6, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ON THE PICKET LINE > >MINNESOTA HOTEL STRIKE > >Hotel workers in Minneapolis and Bloomington, Minn., have >been on the picket lines since June 16. They walked out >when the bosses refused their demands for 22-to-50-percent >pay raises and health benefits. > >Community support for the strikers is strong, despite the >hotel bosses' efforts to portray them as unreasonable and >greedy. In fact, most of the strikers are immigrant workers >trying to support themselves and their families on dismally >low wages and no benefits. They are represented by Hotel >and Restaurant Local 17, a fighting union that emphasizes >unity among workers of all nationalities. The local's >strike bulletin is printed in English and Spanish. Local 17 >is known nationally for having defended the housekeepers at >the Holiday Inn Express who were fired and faced >deportation for bringing in the union. > >As of June 26, there are 1,160 strikers at five hotels. >The strike could spread to include another 500 workers. >--Shelley Ettinger > >D.C. LABOR ACTION > >In late June, labor activists from around the country >gathered at the George Meany Center in Silver Spring, Md., >for the 22nd annual Great Labor Arts Exchange. Conference >participants included progressive labor organizers and >artists who are committed to using creative means to build >worker solidarity. > >This year's conference was attended by "hillbillies" whose >goal is to organize the South; members of unions including >the Musicians, Teachers, Farm Workers, Government >Employees, Hotel and Restaurant Employees, Theatrical and >Stage Employees, Auto Workers, Teamsters, Newspaper >Guild/Communications Workers, Service Employees, Food and >Commercial Workers, Letter Carriers and Asbestos Workers; >members of the AFL-CIO's lesbian, gay, bi and trans >constituency group Pride at Work; progressive theater-arts >companies; and many others. The conference featured >workshops, lectures, the sharing of songs, skits, >information and activism. > >On June 20, participants traveled to Washington to join a >rally at the Bureau of National Affairs, a publishing >company where workers are in the midst of intense contract >negotiations. A bus donated by the Teamsters carried the >spirited artists to the site. There they performed street >theater, songs and chants, demanding a fair settlement. > >A second bus, commandeered by Josh Williams, president of >the Central Labor Council, converged on the swelling rally. >That night the BNA settled with the Newspaper Guild, giving >the workers an increase in wages with full retroactivity. > >One of the buses also traveled across town to Catholic >University. The Service Employees union is trying to >organize the workers on that campus. The university had >tried unsuccessfully to block a planned "street heat" >demonstration, claiming that it would be disruptive to >campus life. > >The conference ended the night of June 20 with a public >concert that was shown over the Internet at the AFL-CIO Web >site via live simulcast. >--Pam Parker > >CLEVELAND LIVING WAGE VICTORY > >For two years, the Living Wage Coalition has been pushing >the Cleveland City Council to pass a living-wage ordinance. >At 11 p.m. on June 19--during the council's last meeting >before the summer recess--the ordinance finally passed. The >vote was unanimous. > >Living-wage supporters had packed the city council >chambers many times. June 19 was no exception. Hundreds of >unionists and community activists filled the hall. They >waited for hours for the council members to finish their >committee meeting and take a vote on the wage bill. > >Under the new ordinance, employers that contract with or >receive tax breaks from the city must pay workers at least >$8.20 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2001. The minimum wage will >rise to $8.70 on Oct. 1, 2001, and to $9.20 on Oct. 1, >2002. Subsequent raises will be based on inflation. > >Although these figures are less than the >labor/religious/community coalition's original demand--$10 >an hour with mandatory health benefits--establishing a >living-wage ordinance in Cleveland is a significant victory >for workers. The labor movement is celebrating. > >A corporate alliance called the Greater Cleveland Growth >Association had mobilized ruling-class opposition to the >living wage. The Cleveland Plain Dealer also applied >pressure to stop the ordinance. The newspaper ran hostile >editorials leading up to the city council vote--but did not >even cover the vote once it took place. > >One week before the Cleveland victory, the city council in >Toledo, Ohio, also passed a living-wage ordinance. >Activists plan to continue the fight for a living wage in >cities throughout Ohio. Dozens of cities in states across >the country now have such laws, strengthening the fight to >drastically increase the minimum wage for all the millions >of low-paid workers in this country. >--Martha Grevatt > > - 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: <01da01bfe43f$4f68bd00$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Attack on Iraq: U.S., Britain plan to escalate >Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 12:05:15 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 6, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >AS IRAQI CASUALTIES MOUNT: >U.S. GOV'T REPS ARE BOOED, >DISRUPTED > >By Sarah Sloan > >About 300 Iraqis--over 200 of them civilians--have been >killed and more than 800 wounded over the last 18 months by >U.S. and British bombings, according to Lt. Gen. Yassin >Jassem, a spokesperson for Iraq's air defense command. > >These figures, cited in the June 16 Washington Post, are >also backed up by a recent United Nations survey on >civilian casualties in Iraq. > >Since December 1998, when the United States and Britain >pounded Iraq around the clock for four days, Baghdad has >been protesting the so-called no-flight zones that the two >imperialist powers imposed unilaterally. > >These zones cover most of northern and southern Iraq. They >deny Iraqis--but not others--the right to fly over two- >thirds of their own air space. Since December 1998, the >United States and Britain have been bombing Iraq in these >zones, sometimes on a daily basis. > >The bombing campaign of Dec. 16-19, 1998, led to protests >all over the world, especially in the Middle East and >northern Africa. Big anti-war demonstrations also took >place in the United States. Since then, this form of >warfare, like sanctions, has gone largely unnoticed in the >capitalist media even as the bombings continued to >terrorize the Iraqi population. > >The Iraqi air defense command says that more than 21,600 >U.S. and British warplanes have flown into Iraq's air space >since December 1998. There has been a bombing or missile >attack an average of once every three days and a civilian >death every other day. > >The Pentagon admits to have flown more than 280,000 >sorties since the United States and Britain imposed the >"no-flight zones" in 1991. > >BUTLER PREDICTS ANOTHER CRISIS > >One of those who has enthusiastically carried out U.S. >strategy against Iraq is former UN "weapons inspector" >Richard Butler. > >Butler was recently in Australia to promote his new book >"Saddam Defiant--The Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction, >and the Crisis of Global Security " at a literary lunch. >There he predicted, "We'll probably have another Iraqi >crisis on our hands" in the next six weeks, the Age of >Melbourne reported June 23. > >The United Nations is preparing a new inspection agency to >begin making demands to enter Iraq in August. The previous >agency, the United Nations Special Commission or UNSCOM, >made over 9,000 inspections throughout Iraq without >discovering any significant violations. UNSCOM has since >been exposed as having connections to the CIA, which Iraq >had charged all along. > >The weapons inspection regime has been used as a >justification to continue the deadly sanctions, which have >killed over 1 million people. Aug. 9 will be the 10th >anniversary of the imposition of the sanctions. > >As Butler spoke, protesters demonstrated against the >sanctions and the continued bombing. > >PROTESTS DISRUPT GOV'T REPS > >Just a month ago protests disrupted U.S. Secretary of >State Madeleine Albright's speech at the University of >California at Berkeley's commencement ceremony, where she >received an honorary degree. Every few seconds a protester >rose to denounce Albright as a war criminal. When that >person was ejected, another would stand up. > >Anti-war and anti-imperialist activists again gave >Albright the greeting she deserved at Northeastern >University in Boston. Demonstrators from all over New >England avoided a police ban on amplified sound by rotating >those operating the sound systems so they could continue to >feign ignorance of the rule. > >With this tactic, they managed to keep a strong rally >going outside, where they told the thousands in attendance >about the over 1 million people killed by the sanctions on >Iraq that Albright promotes. They also exposed the massive >U.S. aid to Colombia that is funding the Pentagon's war >against the liberation movement in that country. > >The progressive activists got quite an opportunity to >address the crowd, since Albright began her speech while >over 1,000 audience members were still outside, waiting to >go through metal detectors and be searched before they were >allowed to enter. > >At least 12 activists were able to get tickets from >sympathetic people attending the demonstration. As Albright >spoke and received her honorary degree, protesters unfurled >four banners condemning the sanctions on Iraq and U.S. >military aid to Colombia. > >Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, the third- >ranking State Department official, had the nerve to speak >in support of the sanctions against Iraq at an annual >convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination >Committee. He was disrupted by the audience, who booed, >banged their plates and spoke against the murderous >sanctions policy. > >The Iowa Coalition to End War Crimes Against Iraq held an >action at which 22 people formed a human blockade across >the entrance to the Iowa Air National Guard headquarters. >For a few minutes, they disrupted normal operations for the >military. They drew attention to the Guard's preparation >for its fourth trip to Turkey, where its troops participate >in bombing sorties over the "no-flight zones." > >All 22 demonstrators were arrested and several spent the >night at the Polk County jail. > > - 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) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
