You are invited to the Municipalism and Labor panel, hosted by the Municipalism Learning Series.

Workers are rising up and taking back cities from capitalists and corporations. Unions are negotiating for benefits for the community and not just members, emerging from behind the fortress. This moment of labor insurgency in the aftermath of the pandemic, which laid bare the disposability of the working class, has echoes in historical struggles to make cities more livable and democratic.

RSVP to receive the Zoom link at http://municipalism.org

Panelists:

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM, Bargaining for the Common Good
CLAUDIA JIMENEZ, Richmond Progressive Alliance
RAND WILSON, Somerville Stands Together
SHELTON STROMQUIST, labor historian

Facilitated by MICHELLE CHEN, host of Belabored podcast

AGENDA ITEMS:

4. Surveillance Technology Ordinance – DPW – Illegal Dumping Cameras
a. Third party sharing (Use Policy Sec. H) notice and report
b. Review and take possible action, including to receive the report and possibly make recommendations to the City Council.

5. Dept. of Transportation – Speed Safety System Pilot Program
a. DOT will present on AB 645 and request a motion of support for the bill. The SOS Initiative aims to prevent severe and fatal traffic crashes, eliminate injury inequities, and carefully assess and mitigate any equity impacts resulting from safety measures. As part of its work, the SOS Initiative has supported the piloting of automated speed enforcement systems in Oakland to address the traffic violence on Oakland city streets and the disproportionate impact traffic violence has on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, seniors, children, and people with disabilities.
b. Review and take possible action

6. Surveillance Technology Ordinance – OPD – Annual Reports
a. Review and take possible action on the annual reports for ShotSpotter, Cell-Site Simulator, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Drones, Live Stream Camera, and Mobile Fingerprinting ID

7. Surveillance Technology Ordinance – DOT – Parking Mobile Payment System
a. Review and take possible action

Kshama only takes an average worker’s wage, donating the rest to a solidarity fund to support working class people fighting for their rights.

Through Kshama’s office, we’ve won:

– the first $15/hr minimum wage in the country, launching the 15 now movement nationally
– a tax on Amazon’s profits to build affordable, green housing in Seattle
– the nation’s first ban on caste discrimination
– caps on late fees for renters in Seattle

Now Workers Strike Back, initiated by Kshama and Socialist Alternative, is building a movement to take the struggle nationwide.

Come Rally with the Socialist that Didn’t Sell Out!

Click Here to Register!
Check It Out: How Kshama’s Approach is Radically Different from the Democrats
Thank you – Socialist Alternative Bay Area

Join Us to Celebrate People’s Park!

Join the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group for a moment of refreshments and celebration of the recent appellate court victory and People’s Park’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

We want to thank the historians, writers, gardeners, everyone who came together and continues to work toward the longevity of Berkeley’s most famous landmark. Tom Dalzell, author of “1969; the Struggle for People’s Park”, will speak, and we’ll have additional speakers to clarify where we are now in our effort to educate and protect People’s Park’s historic national place in history.

We look forward to seeing you, but if you can’t make it and wish to donate to support any legal efforts needed to defend our victory, please go to� http://www.peoplesparkhxdist.org/donate-now/� – GoFundMe, Venmo and check options available.

Long Live People’s Park!

David Bacon will speak about the struggle for housing in rural and urban California.

For background, see David’s latest Photoessay, Wood Street Commons Final Stand.

https://capitalandmain.com/wood-street-commons-final-stand

Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
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Justice for Banko Brown action happening tomorrow 2pm starting at the Walgreens he was murdered at – spread the word and show up pic.twitter.com/zCjAnqEXdY

— Rosa Astra (@morganastra) May 7, 2023

 Climate Chaos: An Existential Crisis — With Ted Franklin (talking about the challenges facing the climate crisis movement), Eugene Coyle (talking about the question of de-growth), and (probably) Steve Ongerth (talking about the efforts to join the struggle within the labor movement).

Co-sponsored by the Oakland Greens.  A hybrid event, at the Starry Plough and on Zoom, via:  https://bit.ly/ClimateChaos-230506

Goldman Sachs bank research this past week published a report that 300,000,000 jobs worldwide will be impacted by the now accelerating introduction of Artificial Intelligence software (machines) that will either eliminate or sharply reduce the hours of work for workers involved in simple decision-making tasks like customer service reps, paralegals, receptionists, retail services, human resources reps, copywriters, basic software coders, and countless other occupations. Its report updates that of five years ago by McKinsey Consultants that estimated 5 million jobs impacted.

Academics hail the news that it will mean a sharp increase in productivity (and therefore profits which they don’t say). But this comes at the expense of destroying jobs and lowering wages. Jobs that might be created by AI will be mostly highly skilled software jobs, many of which the multinational tech and other corporations will import from their foreign subsidiaries via H1-B and L-1 visas from the US government.

Few jobs and greater productivity also mean more intensive exploitation from those workers who will still have work. AI is the latest restructuring of capitalist labor markets in the past five decades that witnessed greater exploitation of labor as a result of the expansion of ‘precarious’ work (involuntary part time and temp jobs) and gig work. AI represents the ‘third wave’ of intensification of the exploitation of labor.

The topic for discussion: what is AI, how it works, and what are the consequences of its adoption for the working class.

Our speaker is Dr. Jack Rasmus, Ph.D Political Economy, teaches economics at St. Mary’s College in California. He is the author of The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy From Reagan to Bush, Clarity Press, October 2019; Alexander Hamilton & The Origins of the Fed, Lexington books, March 2019; Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression, Clarity Press, August 2018; Looting Greece: A New Financial Imperialism Emerges, Clarity Press, Sept. 2016; Systemic Fragility in the Global Economy, Clarity Press, January 2016; ‘Obama’s Economy: Recovery for the Few‘, Pluto Press, 2012, ‘Epic Recession: Prelude to Global Depression‘, Pluto Press, 2010, and ‘The War at Home: The Corporate Offensive from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush‘, Kyklosproductions, 2006.

Jack is the host of the weekly radio show, Alternative Visions, on the Progressive Radio Network, and a journalist writing on economic, political and labor issues for various magazines, including European Financial Review, World Financial Review, World Review of Political Economy, ‘Z‘ magazine, and others. Before his current roles as author, journalist and radio host, Jack was an economist and market analyst for several global companies for 18 years and, for more than a decade, a local union president, vice-president, contract negotiator, and organizer for several labor unions, including the UAW, CWA, SEIU, and HERE. Jack’s website is www.jackrasmus.com

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81133350622?pwd=dUUyUWppbWt6djVTaElISUhocXpSUT09

Meeting ID: 811 3335 0622
Passcode: ICSS2717rs
One tap mobile
+16694449171,,81133350622#,,,,*5892135124# US
+16699006833,,81133350622#,,,,*5892135124# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 669 444 9171 US
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdVC04xvn9

The climate crisis is a global emergency. Government action is beginning to turn things around, and yet the pace is still much too slow. Tonight Dr. Bernadette Rodgers will talk about the current state of the climate crisis, and what we can do. She’ll tell us about her own path to activism, the many ways to engage, what activists call the “Ladder of Engagement”, the rise of Scientist Rebellion (among others), and the surprising personal rewards of direct action. We are living in an “all hands on deck” moment, so please join us on May 14th.

Bernadette Rodgers is a PhD Astronomer who spent 12 years working at an International observatory in Chile before moving to Portland, Oregon and changing career paths to commit more time to climate activism. She currently teaches astronomy and natural science at Willamette University and Portland Community College, and volunteers with Scientist Rebellion and the Portland chapters of 350, Extinction Rebellion and Climate Reality, and serves on the board of the national youth organization SustainUS.

On Zoom: Zoom Link

East Bay DSA’s Labor Committee is holding a joint social with San Francisco DSA’s Labor Working Group. Meet rank and filers in local unions, workers organizing their workplace, and other labor activists from the City, the Town, and beyond. Learn about the exciting work our members are doing in both chapters and build solidarity across the bay. Bring your union swag and come with any announcements and events you’d like to share with committee members and comrades!

Online. Register here

Extreme heat is the deadliest—and fastest-growing—climate-related health hazard, especially for the most vulnerable patients, workers, and lower-income and frontline communities.

Physicians for Social Responsibility SF Bay Chapter is hosting a discussion on ways we can advocate for achievable protections against the health threats of extreme heat,  including “equitable access to medical care, health info, and warning systems during extreme heat events; affordable cooling such as heat-cooling pumps; affordable and protected access to electricity; community cooling centers; labor laws to protect workers; and the phase out of fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy production to mitigate climate change.”

Panelists will discuss

* how we can act locally following the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s recent  vote to phase out gas furnaces and ensure an equitable and just transition to heat-cooling pumps and protected electricity access

* what we can all do on the state-level to advocate for policies and regulations that ensure equal access to cooling and health protections, and a just transition to renewable energy and electrification.

SPEAKERS:

Rupa Basu, PhD, MPH,  Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency

Robin Cooper, MD,  San Francisco psychiatrist, voluntary faculty associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, co-founder and current president of Climate Psychiatry Alliance.

Jessica Guadalupe Tovar,  energy democracy organizer with the East Bay Clean Power Alliance and the Local Clean Energy Alliance.

Michael Rincon leads PSR-LA’s water work, organizing, educating, and advocating with Southeast Los Angeles communities and community groups on local drinking water issues.

Moderator:

Edgar Barraza leads PSR-LA’s statewide equitable building decarbonization policy efforts and supports building decarbonization policy efforts in the City of Los Angeles. He is also the lead point of contact for equitable building decarbonization at CEJA’s Energy Equity Committee and actively engages in the newly formed grassroots-led Healthy Homes and Resilient Communities Committee.

READINGS AND RESOURCES:

• HEAT WAVE Factsheets and Toolkits for staying safe and healthy during extreme heat weather events
• JAMA: Treatment and Prevention of Heat-Related Illness
• Local Clean Energy Alliance Resources
• PSR—Los Angeles: Clean Water and Air & Climate Justice Programs
• An In-depth Guide for Window Heat Pumps
• VOX Video: Learn how heat/cooling pumps work and why they are the future in 5 minutes
• Emerald Cities Collaborative Resources: a national nonprofit working on a just transition to a green economy
• Greenlining: Equitable Building Electrification: A Framework for Powering Resilient Communities
• FIND MORE health and building electrification resources here!