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about SLAP | STUDENT LABOR WEEK OF ACTION | CAMPAIGNS | SLACTIVIST NEWS | TOOLS & RESOURCES | United States Student Association |
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SLACtivist News Spring 2009
10th National Student Labor Week of Action a Success! Over 250 actions in 29 states made the National Student Labor Week of Action a success. Students held events throughout the week tackling the themes of worker’s rights, student debt and access to education, the passage of the DREAM Act and the Employee Free Choice Act. From Florida to Washington State students and workers united to demand justice in their campuses, workplaces and communities. We want to thank all the partnering organizations. Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, Student Farmworker Alliance, United States Student Association, United Student Against Sweatshops, Young Communist League, Young Democratic Socialist and Farmwoker Awarness Week for all their work . Thanks to all everyone who participated and made this week a huge success!! KS- Young Democratic Socialist at Wichita State University during the 10th National Student Labor Week. WSU student in a cash debt machine to see how much debt would they accumulated after college
UCF- SLAP at University of Central Florida had a packed week with an teach in about the importance of Unions and the Employee Free Choice Act , a panel event about reproductive rights of farmworker woman and an amazing GrassRoots Organizing Weekend training.
Washington D.C- DC SLAP had a series at the different universities in the area. American University students held a mock funeral commemorating the Colombian unionists who were murdered by Coca-Cola. At George Washington University students held a film screening of "Occupation", and then talked about the NoVa hotel organizers and how students can get involved. They also held a CIW flyering action in front of their cafeteria, raising awareness and calling on Sodexho to work with the CIW. At Georgetown- Georgetown Solidarity Committee held a worker's forum on campus, and brought in members of the Union de Trabajadores, as well as an HEI hotel employee. At University of Maryland-College Park; Feminist without borders held a very creative action in front of their school's administration building, calling on the president to cut the contract with Russell. - A week after the university cut the contract with Russell Athletics.
Philly- SLAP students at Temple University had a rally “stampede” in support of campus workers getting better contracts at their university.
OR - Our brothers and sisters from MEChA at Western Oregon University in solidarity with the 10th national Student Labor Week of Action
MA- Noam Chomsky lecture at Northeastern University during the 10th National Student Labor Week of Action (picture by Mitch Weiss)
TN- Students at Vanderbilt University held an Ice Cream social for workers and students in support of their living wage and no budget cuts campaign
WI- SDS at University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee held a clothes line in front of the president’s office demanding the university to join the Designers Suppliers Program- Later that day they university agreed signing onto the DSP
IL- Students from MEChA and UNIFAS at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign held a rally in support of worker’s rights'
ME-Wildcat SLAP and the local Jobs with Justice Chapter held a demonstration in support of warehouse workers in Lancaster, CA fighting for a first contract with Rite Aid.
NJ-Princeton for Worker’s rights held a worker appreciation dinner and informational events about Russell Athletics and their anti – union practices in Honduras
NYC-Workers and students picket in front of Stella D’oro factory in support of workers in strike.
Check out more photos from the week of action on our Flickr page here. On May 1st we commemorate International Worker’s day. It is a celebration of the labor and immigrant movement on accomplishments such as the 8 hour work day. It is also a day to demonstrate the need for both immigration reform and labor reform such as the Employee Free Choice Act. As a graduating senior of Saint Michael’s College in Burlington, VT, I plan to attend my last May Day as a college student. However this year unlike the previous, I have the pleasure to travel with Saint Michael’s College’s very own workers’ rights activists, SLAM (Student Labor Action Movement). The treatment and respect of workers has always been something important to me as a college student. Before the creation of SLAM, this manifested itself through simple conversations and just developing personal relationships with the staffers. This year SLAM has hit the campus by storm bringing the issue of workers’ rights out of the shadows and to the whole college. A new sentiment has arisen out of some great students at Saint Mike’s. They are fed up with the one side relationship of students and staff. These SLAMMERS want to repay the efforts of their workers and do good work for them. Through most of my conversations with the workers here at Saint Mike’s most of the issues are about healthcare. Many dormitory custodians brought to our attention how heavy lifting was causing serious back injuries which they do not have the time or money to correct. For my last May Day rally comes an interesting twist on the annual protest. This year the Vermont Workers’ Center will be hosting the peoples’ alternative rally, Healthcare is a Human Right in Montpellier, VT. I truly believe that having our local government adopting a universal healthcare practice will greatly alleviate many of the daily struggles our laborers face due to receiving low wages from our college. No longer would they have to worry about debating on whether that extra dollar should go to their hospital visit or their gas bill! I am proud to be present with the other SLAMMERS at the Healthcare is a Human Right protest. I think that if universal healthcare is achieved more solidarity between student and worker will be created. I now graduate leaving the workers’ rights movement at SMC in the hands of an amazing group of students, staff, and faculty. We can only progress in our achievements! Solidarity Forever, Employee Free Choice Act Update During the 10th National Student Labor Week of Action, students and workers joined forces and demanded the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. This transcendental legislation would give the choice to workers to form unions and bargain for fair wages, healthcare and pensions. Through call in days, lobbying, student government resolution in support of worker’s rights and events, student are making their voice heard in the halls of congress in the need to pass this legislation. Now is your turn, we are asking students to sign petition in support of the free choice of workers and soon to be workers. Learn more at www.jwj.org/freechoice Budget Campaign Update from the U.S Student Association We Won! Last week a historic federal budget passed the House and the Senate with the education investments we fought so hard for and haven’t seen in generations! There has never been a more important time to invest in America’s future and yesterday after all your hard work we made history. With the passage of this budget we learned two things, first, young people DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE and WE DO HAVE THE POWER TO WIN victories that change peoples lives! And second, there are still private student lenders making millions off of students trying to prevent Congress and President Obama from making education a right for every hard working student and family who deserve it. Send a thank you letter to your Member of Congress today to show them how much we care about education! For more information on making education a right go to www.usstudents.org The DREAM Act is a legislation that has been introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives. This legislation would allow undocumented high school graduates the possibility of attending college and a path to citizenship. During the 10th National Student Labor Week of Action hundreds of students held events, passed student government resolutions and held movie showings about the plight of undocumented student and their search for a higher education. For the next couple of months we are asking you to tell your Senators to become co-sponsors of this bill and educate the community about this transcendental legislation. Also The United we Dream Coalition cordially invites you to participate in a National Conference Call on the DREAM Act. On the call we will discuss new developments on the Dream Act and upcoming DREAM Act '09 campaign events. Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Please R.S.V.P. to olubunmi@nilc.org before 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, May 4th to get the call-in information and materials for the call. Please include your question to Ms. Massimino in the email. Student Farmwoker Alliance - Dining with Dignity For decades, farmworkers have endured grinding poverty due to the low-cost, high-volume purchasing practices of the corporate food industry. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers-led Campaign for Fair Food is slowly changing that reality. Yet, after eight years of our campaign, seven high-profile farmworker slavery convictions, and five of the world's leading food retailers having agreed to work with the CIW to improve conditions in the fields, Aramark, Sodexo and Compass continue to stand on the sidelines, arms crossed. Join students across the country and organize your own Dine with Dignity event or action in the coming days — a great way to combine the message of Fair Food with the nationwide May 1st mobilizations and to also finish the semester strong and give your food service provider something to think about this summer! Update- The Dine with Dignity campaign can celebrate its first victory as Bon Appetit has agreed to work with CIW to "put an end to tomatoes tinged with the bitter taste of exploitation!" For more info visit www.sfalliance.org Internship and Job opportunities U.S Student Association NATIONAL FIELD DIRECTOR, NATIONAL FIELD ASSOCIATE & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Applications are due IMMEDIATELY! All positions are based in our Washington, DC office. Ideal start date is the beginning of June 2009. More info email Greg Cendana at vp@usstudents.org NOI's Summer Campaign BootCamp! BootCamp is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The 60 organizers who are selected for this program will spend one intensive, all-expenses-paid week in Washington, DC, learning the fundamentals of both traditional and new political campaigning... focusing on how to leverage technology to maximize a campaign's impact. USAS Internships in Morocco This Summer 2009, United Students Against Sweatshops is partnering with the Solidarity Center in Agadir, Morocco for an exciting internship working closely with agricultural workers! The international summer internship program helps bring together student power and worker power to make real change on our campuses and in the garment industry. Interns will be provided with housing and a food stipend. In the past interns have conducted interviews with workers about their wages and working conditions, visited factories and boarding houses, attended regional and local conferences, worked closely on union organizing drives, spread the word about the work that USAS does, and developed long lasting relationships through which USAS can build its important work. The program lasts 8-12 weeks, and begins with a training session in Washington DC prior to the intern's departure. Submit applications AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE MAY 13th. IMPORTANT NOTE: APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED ON A ROLLING BASIS AND THE POSITION MAY BE FILLED BEFORE MAY 13TH For an application please contact register@usas.org or 716.432.1576 Strategic Corporate Research Summer School The AFL-CIO and Cornell University are sponsoring a Strategic Corporate Research Summer School on June 7-12, 2009 in Ithaca, New York. The course (credit or non-credit) is designed for undergrad and grad students who are interested in working as union researchers and campaigners. The registration deadline is May 1. Credit scholarships are available. To obtain a registration form and other information, go to www.sce.cornell.edu/ss/courses/on/special/scr.php, or contact Kirstine Armstrong at (607) 254-4749 or kaa14@cornell.edu. AFL-CIO hiring for analytics team The AFL-CIO's analytics team is growing! We're hiring a person to do economic analysis and it's impact on political economies as well as to study the changing trends in the labor market. We do a lot of really creative and cutting edge stuff with data at the AFL-CIO, and the work environment is awesome. Additionally, the analytics team is full of really creative and fun people. Email Matt Lackey for more information. - matt.lackey@gmail.com UIC-GEO Organizer The University of Illinois Chicago Graduate Employees Organization (UIC-GEO), American Federation of Teachers Local 6297, is a fair share labor union representing approximately 1400 Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants across 59 departments at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We have been recognized by the University of Illinois system since 2004, winning our first contract in 2006. Currently, we are seeking a full-time Staff Field Organizer to ideally begin employment on or near July 1, 2009. Email Danielle Christmas for more info dmchristmas@yahoo.com ITS America intern ITS America (www.itsa.org), a non-profit society that promotes the use of technology in transportation to help save lives, time and money and sustain the environment, is looking for an intern (either summer or on an on-going basis). This individual would work in the areas of social media, communications, legislation, environment and membership. The intern will receive a local travel stipend. Otherwise, this is a non- paying internship based in Washington DC. If you are interested in being considered for this position, please forward your resume to sbelcher@itsa.org. Atlas Project Research Fellow The Atlas Project is a private consulting firm, founded in 2007 by Mary Beth Cahill, Steve Rosenthal and Michael Whouley, committed to the success of the progressive movement. The Atlas Project conducts in- depth analysis of various campaign-related information and policy issues in key states to help our clients make better informed data- driven decisions. In the 2008 election cycle, The Atlas Project, in partnership with NCEC, developed strategic roadmaps and targeting memos for clients in 23 battleground states. The Research Fellow will be responsible for helping to organize a vast archive of campaign materials; standardizing data in Excel spreadsheets; and performing specific research tasks for senior Atlas Project staff members. In addition, the Research Fellow will have the opportunity to gather election and political data for targeting memos and analyses for clients. Memos will include information on possible candidates and the lay of the land of upcoming races. Cover letter, resume and a list of references are due May 1, 2009 and may be emailed to pyang@atlasproject.net Fellows will receive a $500 stipend each month, and must be able to commit to a 3-month, full-time fellowship from May to August. Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (Washington, DC) Communications and Gulf Coast Recovery Internship Interns will be asked to perform a variety of tasks in order to help with the Communications and Advocacy Team. (This is by no means an exhaustive list): Analyst Institute Summer Fellow Program The Analyst Institute www.analystinstitute.org is accepting applications for our 2008 DC Summer Fellows Program. The Analyst Institute collaborates with dozens of the largest progressive organizations to design, implement, and analyze experiments of campaign strategies and serves as a clearing house for evidence based best practices (see description below). Analyst Institute Fellows will have the opportunity to work on research related to cutting edge political strategy and testing. Fellows will attend skill builder workshops, and meetings of the most recent research on data driven politics, and learn the basics of randomized controlled experimentation. Analyst Institute Fellowship responsibilities vary based on the applicant’s skill set. Ideally we will hire multiple Fellows to cover the following responsibilities: Website Management, Outreach Assistance, Summarizing Research, Editing AI Documents, Data Gathering, Assembling Data Sets, Basic Office Support, Data Analysis (depending on applicant’s abilities). Please send a resume and cover letter to summerfellow@analystinstitue.org. America’s Future Now Campus Progress National conference Asian Pacific American 10th Biennial Convention- Generations united organizing for change U.S Student Association Congress Kentucky Social Forum |
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We asked Derek Souza from St. Mikes college in Vermont about what May 1st means to him. 