Calendar
The Postal Service has put the Berkeley Post Office up for sale!!
The Postal Service has started to outsource Post Office services to Staples, replacing union jobs with low-paying, low benefit work.
And we’re fighting against both!
Come help us plan our next steps.
We’ve started a “Don’t Shop at Staples” campaign with some awesome… what else? … postcards to send to Staples management! Here’s the front of the postcard.
All four Postal Unions have joined together to support maintaining full service, public Post Offices in every community, with expansion to include postal banking, and to oppose subcontracting and privaztization of services. We need to support them in these endeavors!
The Berkeley City Council is on a path to pass some sort of Zoning Overlay which may protect the Post Office against various commercial uses, or be totally ineffective. We need to stay on top of it.
And we need to be prepared if the Post Office announces a sale! The Advisory Commission on Historical Preservation came out with its report, recommending that sales of Historic Post offices be halted until the USPS conforms with historical preservation law. Here is our response.
The Office of Inspector General’s report on the sale of Historic Post Offices was also supposed to come out before the end of March – anything could happen after it comes out. Come help us plan our response.
Encouraging articles have come out recently about using Post Offices as banking facilities for the unbanked. We held a forum on postal and public banking on March 29th on the Post Office steps.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Screening and discussion:
“How to Start a Revolution”
— a film on the work of Gene Sharp
Any power structure relies upon the People’s obedience to the orders of the ruler(s).
If the People do not obey, rulers have no power.
Gene Sharp is known for his extensive writings on nonviolent struggle, which have influenced numerous anti-government resistance movements around the world. In 1953-54, Sharp was jailed for nine months after protesting the conscription of soldiers for the Korean War, and wrote and organized throughout his entire life. In 1983 he founded the Albert Einstein Institution, devoted to studies and promotion of the use of nonviolent action in conflicts worldwide.
Feature documentary “How to Start a Revolution” (2011) about the global influence of Sharp’s work has been described as the unofficial film of the Occupy Wall Street movement, shown in Occupy camps in cities all over the world.
David Hartsough, longtime friend of OccupyForum, will lead a discussion on the film and Gene Sharp’s work. From his time with Martin Luther King in Montgomery Alabama to his life-long work in peacemaking including in the Soviet Union, Kosovo, Berlin, Cuba, Nicaragua, Palestine and Israel and Iran — Hartsough has spent his life working for peace and justice. Co-founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. David has helped initiate a Global Movement to End All War. He has just returned from a peacemaking trip to Korea and Vietnam. His book, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, comes out in September. He is the Director of PEACEWORKERS San Francisco.
https://itunes.apple.com/movie/how-to-start-a-revolution
Global Movement to End All War www.worldbeyondwar.org.
Q&A and Announcements will follow. Donations to OccupyForum
to cover our costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
The Community & Economic Development Committee of the City Council will be considered a “proposal” by Larry Reid to increase the minimum wage to $10.20 beginning January 1, 2015.
Come tell Reid and the other members of the committee that Oakland wants nothing less than a living wage – $15.00/hr, and that his proposal is an insult to the working class.
Panel Discussion featuring:
- Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Economics U Missourci,
- Debbie Cochrane, Research Director, Institute for College Access & Success
- Hannal Appel, UC Berkeley Visiting Scholar, Anthropology, and Strike Debt Bay Area member.
Followed by Q&A.
March with community members from across the Bay Area in the streets of Oakland!
3:30PM: Fruitvale Bart Plaza Opening Rally
4 pm: March Starts
5:30: Return to Fruitvale Bart Plaza for Closing Rally and Celebration!
Hosted by Oakland Sin Frontera (OSF) and Partners
WHY ARE WE MARCHING?
Oakland Sin Frontera
· LEGALIZATION FOR ALL UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
· STOP THE DEPORTATION OF ALL IMMIGRANTS & SHUT DOWN DETENTION CENTERS
· UPHOLD WORKERS RIGHTS
· STOP FEDERAL AND LOCAL POLICE VIOLENCE, AND BRING OUR LOVED ONES HOME FROM PRISONS AND JAILS
· BUILD AND DEFEND STRONG AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
· END U.S. MILITARY AGGRESSION & POLICIES THAT FORCE MIGRATION
Join the Andy Lopez contingent in the May Day (May 1st) March & Rally.
The people (that’s us folks) demand Jobs, Justice & Respect for Everyone.
4:00 pm gather at El Tianguis de Roseland/Roseland Farmers Market (Formally Old Albertsons now Dollar Tree) 775 Sebastopol Road.
4:45 pm – Start March to downtown Court House Square for Rally.
Original IndyBay notice, with poster.
Happy May Day to All! Whoever wishes to come out to the farm this evening for an informal potluck and musical celebration, grab your instruments and a dish to share (and dish to eat from) and come on down round 5:30 or 6 to be together on the land we have fought so hard for. It is what we make it.
The committee to create a DAC privacy policy, formed because of the protests against the DAC, will hold its first meeting. By City Council resolution a privacy policy must be in place before the DAC can operate.
Open to public.
Come and tell the committee members: “The only good DAC is a dead DAC.”
People supporting an increase in Berkeley’s minimum wage will rally just before the Berkeley City Council meets at 7pm to consider enacting the minimum wage proposal submitted by the Berkeley Labor Commission. Because a large turnout is expected, the Council meeting will be held at Longfellow Middle School Auditorium, 1500 Derby Street (cross street Sacramento).
The Berkeley Labor Commission proposed a minimum wage beginning at $10.74 an hour for businesses with up to 50 employees, and $13.34 for larger businesses with the minimum wage adjusted yearly for inflation. Employees would also receive a medical benefit of $2.22 an hour if health insurance is not provided. The cost to consumers would be minimal. Even if the entire cost of the wage increase is passed on to consumers, the cost of grocery shopping would increase on the average less than fifty cents a week. Recognizing that workers need a living wage, San Jose and San Francisco have already increased their minimum wages. Today, for two-thirds of the workforce, wages adjusted for inflation are lower than they were 14 years ago.
Raising the minimum wage in our cities stops the erosion in the standard of living. Berkeley recognizes the effect of inflation: landlords who own rent controlled apartments in Berkeley receive an annual cost of living adjustment. Providing a living wage would not only reduce poverty. By increasing purchasing power, it would stimulate the economy and therefore reduce unemployment. For information about the minimum wage act and those who support it, contact: Harry Brill, at 510-559-3138, email harry.brill@sbcglobal.net, or Nicky Gonzalez Yuen at 510-912-3181 or email,
FROM MARIKANA, SOUTH AFRICA TO OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA:
THE STRUGGLE FOR WORKERS POWER
The fall of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 was a watershed victory. It culminated decades of struggle by the Black and Colored South African masses, a struggle supported by millions in the U.S. and around the world. The victory brought to power the Tripartite government of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
Now, two decades later, the ANC-led Tripartite government represents big business’s interests — especially the interests of U.S. and European-based banks and corporations. This has led the government to brutally attack workers who fight back against austerity. Indeed, in 2012, at the Marikana mine, this government massacred 34 striking miners at the behest of the mine owners.
Black poverty has worsened. Inequality has worsened. Trade union officials collaborate with employers against workers, youth, and unemployed. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t the situation similar in the US, with union officials not fighting employer and government attacks on workers, like the machinists at Boeing?
But in South Africa, there’s an exciting new development: for the first time since the fall of Apartheid, there’s a serious challenge to the Tripartite government’s rule, and it comes from the largest and most militant union in Africa. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has broken with the COSATU leadership and called for South Africans not to support the ANC in this year’s elections. It is currently building a workers’ party and united front to lead the struggle against the capitalist onslaught of deregulation, privatization, and strike breaking.
We are privileged to present Brother Mphumzi Maqungo, the national treasurer of NUMSA and past chair of NUMSA’s autoworker shop steward network, to discuss these developments.
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 7:00 PM
ILWU Hall, Henry Schmidt Room
400 N. Point St./Mason, San Francisco
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 12 NOON
UC Berkeley, McCone Hall (Room 575)
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2:00 PM
Black Repertory Theater
3201 Adeline, Berkeley
(one block south of Ashby BART)
For updates or to get involved in building for these events, contact the May Day Committee in Solidarity with South African Workers at: twsc [at] transportworkers.org. Reach us directly at (510)325-8664 or (415)282-1908
We are privileged to present Brother Mphumzi Maqungo, the National Treasurer of NUMSA, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.
Speaking of the massacre of 34 miners in Marikana, South Africa in August, 2012, and for building a workers’ party to lead the workers’ struggle against the capitalist onslaught of deregulation, privatization and strike breaking.
FROM MARIKANA, SOUTH AFRICA TO OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA:
THE STRUGGLE FOR WORKERS POWER
The fall of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 was a watershed victory. It culminated decades of struggle by the Black and Colored South African masses, a struggle supported by millions in the U.S. and around the world. The victory brought to power the Tripartite government of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
Now, two decades later, the ANC-led Tripartite government represents big business’s interests — especially the interests of U.S. and European-based banks and corporations. This has led the government to brutally attack workers who fight back against austerity. Indeed, in 2012, at the Marikana mine, this government massacred 34 striking miners at the behest of the mine owners.
Black poverty has worsened. Inequality has worsened. Trade union officials collaborate with employers against workers, youth, and unemployed. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t the situation similar in the US, with union officials not fighting employer and government attacks on workers, like the machinists at Boeing?
But in South Africa, there’s an exciting new development: for the first time since the fall of Apartheid, there’s a serious challenge to the Tripartite government’s rule, and it comes from the largest and most militant union in Africa. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has broken with the COSATU leadership and called for South Africans not to support the ANC in this year’s elections. It is currently building a workers’ party and united front to lead the struggle against the capitalist onslaught of deregulation, privatization, and strike breaking.
We are privileged to present Brother Mphumzi Maqungo, the national treasurer of NUMSA and past chair of NUMSA’s autoworker shop steward network, to discuss these developments.
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 7:00 PM
ILWU Hall, Henry Schmidt Room
400 N. Point St./Mason, San Francisco
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 12 NOON
UC Berkeley, McCone Hall (Room 575)
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2:00 PM
Black Repertory Theater
3201 Adeline, Berkeley
(one block south of Ashby BART)
For updates or to get involved in building for these events, contact the May Day Committee in Solidarity with South African Workers at: twsc [at] transportworkers.org. Reach us directly at (510)325-8664 or (415)282-1908
As we Honor Alan Blueford on the 2nd year anniversary of his death The Blueford family would like to invite you to the Alan Blueford Walk-A-Thon “Use you Heels to help Heal” our community.
We have a flatbed truck w/professional sound, and 3 confirmed performers:
Zar The Dip, Ras Ceylon, and Phanom, who is a rapper from Tracy who also happens to be Alan’s friend.
Check out the JAB website and also please join & share the Facebook event page.
RALLY!
Introducing the Downtown Initiative to Save the Public Commons and
to ensure a Green Pathway for Downtown.
This would establish the Historic District’s Zoning Overlay and protect the Post Office along with other historic buildings.
Gather Signatures and Sign the Initiative
Music by Hali Hammer, Dave �Redd� Welsh, and others
FROM MARIKANA, SOUTH AFRICA TO OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA:
THE STRUGGLE FOR WORKERS POWER
The fall of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 was a watershed victory. It culminated decades of struggle by the Black and Colored South African masses, a struggle supported by millions in the U.S. and around the world. The victory brought to power the Tripartite government of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
Now, two decades later, the ANC-led Tripartite government represents big business’s interests — especially the interests of U.S. and European-based banks and corporations. This has led the government to brutally attack workers who fight back against austerity. Indeed, in 2012, at the Marikana mine, this government massacred 34 striking miners at the behest of the mine owners.
Black poverty has worsened. Inequality has worsened. Trade union officials collaborate with employers against workers, youth, and unemployed. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t the situation similar in the US, with union officials not fighting employer and government attacks on workers, like the machinists at Boeing?
But in South Africa, there’s an exciting new development: for the first time since the fall of Apartheid, there’s a serious challenge to the Tripartite government’s rule, and it comes from the largest and most militant union in Africa. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has broken with the COSATU leadership and called for South Africans not to support the ANC in this year’s elections. It is currently building a workers’ party and united front to lead the struggle against the capitalist onslaught of deregulation, privatization, and strike breaking.
We are privileged to present Brother Mphumzi Maqungo, the national treasurer of NUMSA and past chair of NUMSA’s autoworker shop steward network, to discuss these developments.
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 7:00 PM
ILWU Hall, Henry Schmidt Room
400 N. Point St./Mason, San Francisco
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 12 NOON
UC Berkeley, McCone Hall (Room 575)
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2:00 PM
Black Repertory Theater
3201 Adeline, Berkeley
(one block south of Ashby BART)
For updates or to get involved in building for these events, contact the May Day Committee in Solidarity with South African Workers at: twsc [at] transportworkers.org. Reach us directly at (510)325-8664 or (415)282-1908
DESTROYING
THEIR STRUCTURES AND THREATENING THE REMAINING RESIDENTS
Join us for a fun day and NIGHT of making art! TILL 10PM Graffiti boards will be provided but bring your own painting supplies! Open air!!FOOD NOT BOMBS MUSIC
The Bulb is Gorgeous and tons of fun!
Community members of the Albany Bulb are being targeted and arrested — evicting folks to break up the “homeless” (not), group and develop the landfill they live on.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND VIRAL AMBERS 3 MIN SPEACH which is on youtube,com/orionorion99 click amber playlist
Show solidarity and keep Comrade Jihad on the streets doing revolutionary work for the people by bringing your car in for a thorough clean. Music, snacks, raffle (need not be present to win), and more. Carwash by donation, $5-20 on Sunday, May 4th from 10am-4pm. The carwash will be in the parking lot of Just Cause/Causa Justa, 3268 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA.
The Black Riders Liberation Party, the Intercommunal Solidarity Committee and the Break the Lock initiative snatched Comrade Jihad out of the belly of the beast, even though out on bail he still owes the fascist state $5,700. He was arrested in East Oakland last year in a frame-up as retaliation for his tireless Watch a Pig activity and other revolutionary actions. He was scheduled to be released, but the fascist pigs took him to Santa Clara County Jail and arraigned him on new bogus charges instead.
We call on comrades, supporters, and sympathizers to rise to the occasion and show material solidarity with Comrade Jihad. He needs funds for a legal defense team and to pay the bail bondsman so he can stay out of jail and continue his revolutionary activity on the street.
Welcome Home Lynne Stewart!
Free all political prisoners! End racist mass incarceration! Abolish the death penalty! Stop police brutality and murder!
Initial Bay Area Tour Schedule:
Friday, May 2: San Francisco, Host: National Lawyers Guild, 6 pm 518 Valencia St., SF
Saturday, May 3, Palo Alto, Host: Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, afternoon
Saturday, May 3, San Jose, Host, San Jose Peace and Justice Center & NLG South Bat, evening
Sunday, May 4, Oakland, Host: Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal & Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
Monday, May 5: Marin, evening
Tuesday, May 6: Sacramento, evening
Tour endorsers (initial list): SF Bay Area National Lawyers Guild � Middle East Children�’s Alliance � United National Antiwar Coalition � Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal � World Can’t Wait � Freedom Socialist Pa Party � Marin Peace and Justice Center � Peninsula Peace and Justice Center � Sacracramento Area Peace Council � WILPF � SF Gray Panthers � Socialist Acti Action � International Action Center � Freedom Archives
Deliver Signatures to Senator Feinstein’s Office.
A Year Has Passed since Edward Snowden’s Revelations.
In that year, Senator Feinstein has continued to undermine reform efforts
Press Conference featuring the signatories of the Shame On Feinstein letter.
We will discuss our demands for real NSA reform. We invite all signatories and members of the press to attend.