Fighting for $15/hour and a union: when we stick together we are heard.

Join us this Thursday in Oakland!

It’s just wrong that so many fast food workers aren’t paid enough to afford our basic needs, like food, transportation and housing. We’re united for a $15/hour wage floor and the right to form a union without retaliation. Raising pay will lift up our families and our community.

Also a rally at 11 am at Oscar Grant Plaza

More on facebook: East Bay Fast Food Workers & Twitter: @fairfastfood

#StrikeFastFood: Join us as we ramp up efforts for $15 and the right to unionize without retaliation. For respect, fair treatment, and against extreme income inequality. WE DESERVE MORE!

Oakland California, to Ferguson, Missouri

FUCK THE POLICE MARCH

Wear all Black

Ferguson, Missouri.

To the good people of Ferguson, resisting fascism – and taking your streets: You are not alone. We will continue to take the streets here in Oakland in solidarity!

On August 31st, @LostVoices14 found a noose hanging in the Ferguson camp, showing the KKK are alive & well.
(video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWiUqcSWD_c)
We will take the streets behind an Anti-Fascist banner. We will march against the fascism of racist police forces everywhere, and the racists they empower. KKK impunity ends with the barbaric acts of Aug 31 and the finding of a hanging noose.

Oakland California!
The time has come for more than state justice for these atrocities. The time has come to draw a line in the sand and say “no more racist police killings or beatings.”

Newly awoken resistance groups across the USA, Anonymous, Occupy alumni, East Bay radicals, and many others are drawing a line in the sand that runs right down the middle of Main Street in Ferguson, Missouri. We will no longer watch the powerful oppress the downtrodden without letting our anger sing. We are simply defending ourselves and our sisters and brothers against racism and abuse of power.

Feed each other, keep each other safe – and stay in the streets until we are totally victorious in all our demands!

The Zim Shanghai has changed its estimated arrival back to Saturdays (September 27th) in the morning.

The critical picket is back to 5AM Saturday. Gather at W.Oakland BART.

We will still be at W. Oakland BART at 5pm tonight to meet anyone who wants to help plan for tomorrow’s picket.

Please continue to check text messages, Twitter and Facebook alerts.

Text: “Join” to 88202 for alerts on ship location and picket status

Twitter: @StopZIMOak

Facebook: facebook.com/events/545270232240123/

Inquiries: stopzimoak@gmail.com / (415) 282-1908

To track the Zim Shanghai: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/477634600

Port of Oakland map: http://www.portofoakland.com/pdf/maritime/mari_map.pdf

End the Siege of Gaza!

Endorsed by:

End the Siege of Gaza! Picket the Zim Shanghai Starting September 27 at the Port of Oakland!

Israel and Hamas agreed to a set of conditions for a ceasefire on August 26th, after Israel had killed more than 2,100 Palestinians in Gaza – mostly civilians, more than a quarter children – and destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, housing, hospitals, schools and water supply.

Israel claims it does not “occupy” Gaza, yet it has complete control of Gaza’s land crossings, seacoast and air space. Israel severely restricts Palestinians’ movement and their access to food, medical supplies, and construction materials.

In 1984, protesting against South African Apartheid, the Bay Area longshore workers union, ILWU Local 10, went on strike for 11 days against the Nedlloyd Kimberley, a ship carrying South African cargo.

In 2010, responding to the deadly Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Local 10 honored a picket of an Israeli-owned ZIM ship by 1,200 community and labor activists, refusing to unload the ship for 24 hours. In August 2014, Palestinian, community and labor activists, in an historic victory, blocked the Zim Piraeus for five days and forced it to leave the Bay with most of its cargo still on board.

We ask the ILWU to carry on its long historical tradition of opposing injustice and honoring community picket lines. Let’s keep the pressure on and continue this tradition of labor blockades against oppression.

Please come to a sustained community and labor activist picket beginning on September 27th to stop the Zim Shanghai from unloading or loading any cargo – from when it arrives in Oakland until it leaves. This will also send a message to stevedoring companies such as Stevedore Services of America (SSA) who are pushing for concessions right now against longshore workers who are working without a contract.

Picket Lines Mean Don’t Cross!
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
Solidarity with the Palestinian people!

Stop ZIM Action Committee

================

Text “Join” to 88202 for alerts on ship location and picket status
Twitter: @StopZIMOak
Webpage: snurl.com/stopzims27

A “sustained picket” means we will picket the Zim Shanghai from when it arrives until it leaves the Bay.

Morning assembly: 5am, West Oakland BART (starting September 27th)

Afternoon assembly: 4:30pm, West Oakland BART

Carpools will be available from West Oakland BART to the picket site. The ship is expected at the SSA terminal in the Port.

Typically, each picket will last only a few hours until longshoremen decide not to cross the picket. It may last longer depending on the situation. Volunteers are need for all shifts, but especially morning shifts and the first day (morning of September 27th).

Please check your phone/Twitter/FB for updates on the ship location and picket status, particularly the day before. ZIM may delay the ship’s arrival to avoid picketers.

======================

Unions around the world, including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (Gaza) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have called for action against Israeli Apartheid.

We are asking that longshore workers honor this picket line as they have done before for the Zim Piraeus, and other ships such as the Nedlloyd Kimberley which carried cargo for the oppressive and discriminatory Apartheid regime of South Africa in the 1980s.

We understand the ILWU is currently in contract negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and that there is no contract in effect at this time. Further, SSA is one of the most aggressive stevedoring employers in the PMA going after the ILWU on work rules and concessions. ILWU longshore workers in the Pacific Northwest have been fired for work stoppages over health and safety violations despite the fact that there is no contract in effect. Working now under no contract as negotiations continue, there is more opportunity and reason to take action on behalf of workers and the community.

There is no arbitration procedure without a contract and longshore workers cannot be compelled to cross a labor and community picket line to comply with a contract. Honoring a picket line of the Israeli shipping line ZIM actively supports the Palestinian people, and shows that union members care about what happens to others who suffer discrimination and oppression. Supporting the community in this struggle further strengthens community support for the ILWU in fighting to keep the hiring hall, work rules, and other benefits union members have.

ILWU members should be aware that Israeli unions actively discriminate against Palestinians – who make up a significant portion of the labor force within Israel. As many of you are well aware, longshore workers in San Francisco and the entire West Coast established the hiring hall after the strike in 1934 to end discrimination in hiring based on union membership and race.

The blockade of the Zim Shanghai continues tonight, after all but one longshore worker refused to take the job at morning dispatch.

Gather at W. Oakland BART by 4:30pm tonight to march and/or carpool to the port, or come directly to the SSA Terminal, Berth 57, at the Port of Oakland by 5pm.

Please continue to check text messages, Twitter and Facebook for alerts and messages.

Text: “Join” to 88202 for alerts on ship location and picket status

Twitter: @StopZIMOak

Facebook: facebook.com/events/545270232240123/

Inquiries: stopzimoak@gmail.com / (415) 282-1908

To track the Zim Shanghai: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/477634600

Port of Oakland map: http://www.portofoakland.com/pdf/maritime/mari_map.pdf

End the Siege of Gaza!

Endorsed by:

Continuing the blockade from the morning shift.

See the morning shift announcement for details.

The Zim Shanghai has left the Golden Gate and is now near the Farallon Islands. It has long passed the point at which the Zim Piraeus did its U-turn last month. Current destination on Marine Tracker is Los Angeles, ETA 11pm Monday night.

No need to gather at 5am this morning, but please check text messages and Twitter at about 6am, just in case ZIM is up to its previous tricks.

Text: “Join” to 88202 for alerts on ship location and picket status

Twitter: @StopZIMOak

Facebook: facebook.com/events/545270232240123/

Inquiries: stopzimoak@gmail.com / (415) 282-1908

To track the Zim Shanghai: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/477634600

Port of Oakland map: http://www.portofoakland.com/pdf/maritime/mari_map.pdf

End the Siege of Gaza!

Endorsed by:

After the Zim shanghai had been prevented from being unloaded for two shifts today, the call has gone out to continue the blockade.

The #StopZim committee has put out a call for a 5AM picket tomorrow morning at SSA Berth 57, 1717 Middle Harbor Rd. #BlockTheBoat

— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) September 28, 2014

Pickets tonight were successful. We urgently need you at Sunday AM shift at 5AM W Oakland BART. Please bring friends. #Blocktheboat #stopzim

— Stop Zim Action Comm (@StopZIMOak) September 28, 2014

All six cranes at SSA sit motionless. Zim ship won't unload tonight. What a beautiful sight! #StopZim #BlockTheBoat pic.twitter.com/LAC6Blj2ZN

— Not Frantz Fanon (@violentfanon) September 28, 2014

EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION

HANDS OFF PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND THE LAVALAS MOVEMENT!
HUNDREDS OF SUPPORTERS RALLY OUTSIDE PRESIDENT ARISTIDE’S HOME AFTER MASKED AND HOODED POLICE SURROUND IT!

ON SATURDAY MORNING, MASKED HAITIAN POLICE SURROUNDED FORMER PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE’S HOUSE, AS HAITIAN RADIO STATIONS BROADCAST NEWS THAT HE WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY ARRESTED. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE RALLIED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, VOWING TO STAY THERE TO PREVENT HIS ARREST.

THIS IS THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE LAVALAS MOVEMENT’S CALL FOR DEMONSTRATIONS ON TUESDAY TO MARK THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 30TH, 1991 COUP AGAINST PRESIDENT ARISTIDE. IT IS PART OF A PATTERN OF INTIMIDATION THAT HARKENS BACK TO THE DAYS OF THE DUVALIER DICTATORSHIP.

ON SEPTEMBER 12TH, AT 1 A.M., THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT REMOVED THE SECURITY DETAIL THAT HAS BEEN GUARDING FORMER PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND HIS FAMILY SINCE HIS RETURN TO HAITI IN 2011. THIS CAME A DAY AFTER A JUDGE ORDERED PRESIDENT ARISTIDE, HAITI’S FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT, TO BE PLACED UNDER “HOUSE ARREST.” UNDER CURRENT HAITIAN LAW, “HOUSE ARREST” DOES NOT EXIST, BUT IT WAS USED FREQUENTLY AS A FORM OF REPRESSION BY THE DUVALIER REGIME.

WE VIEW THIS WITH THE GRAVEST CONCERN AND CONSIDER THESE DEVELOPMENTS A DIRECT THREAT TO PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND HIS FAMILY.

PLEASE CALL THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT’S HAITI DESK.

THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN A KEY SUPPORTER OF THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT OF MICHEL MARTELLY. LET THEM KNOW — GIVEN THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE MARTELLY GOVERNMENT – THAT WE HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE SAFETY AND WELFARE OF PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND HIS FAMILY, AND THAT WE DEMAND AN END TO THIS HARASSMENT AND REPRESSION AGAINST PRESIDENT ARISTIDE AND THE LAVALAS MOVEMENT.

Please Call:
Haiti Special Coordinator Thomas ADAMS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
202 647-9510
AND
Pamela White, Ambassador of the United States in Haiti
Embassy of the United States
Tabarre, Haiti
Tel: 011-509-2229-8000
Fax 011 509 2-229-8028

Initiated by Haiti Action Committee
www.haitisolidarity.net

March to STOP Evictions & Luxury Condos in the Mission &

 Support PROP G 

Gather Sat. Oct. 4, 1PM @ Brava Theater York & 24th
March   2pm  for affordable housing!
Rally     3PM @ 16th & Mission

Dear Causa Justa family:

Our fights are many, on both sides of the bay and we know we are asking a lot from you tenant meetings, city hall hearings, marches, rallies, etc but our people are in the eye of the storm. Stand with us as we fight for our very survival here in this Bay Area gold rush.

This weekend we march in San Francisco’s Mission district to send a message loud and clear: we will not roll over without a fight. Join Our Mission No Eviction and the Plaza 16 Coalition in a historic march to demand affordable housing. And to fight against the biggest development the Mission has ever seen planned for the 16th St. Plaza  the proposed looming monster development by Maximus Real Estate, which includes luxury housing, retail space, and 10-story towers. We’re also marching to support Prop G � the anti-spec tax that would stop the flipping of properties by speculators.  Read more here and here

#stoptheflip #housingisahumanright

RSVP here for No Monster in the Mission March

Facebook event.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED OR POSTPONED. STAY TUNED.

On Behalf of the Serrano Family, we are asking our beloved Community, to join in solidarity, to demand justice for Yanira Serrano, who was mercilessly gunned down , June 3, 2014, in front her family, by San Mateo County Sheriff.

Please come and support our effort to STOP BUSINESS AS USUAL, during the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. Let’s remind the city, county, state and the nation, that while this is a time when most families are enjoying the happy joy and harvest of the season; the Serrano family will not be celebrating this love & bounty because of senseless police brutality.

TRANSPORTATION:

FOR THOSE OF YOU, WHO HAVE ACCESS TO CARS AND VANS, OR HAVE THE RESOURCES TO RENT VEHICLES, LET’S ORGANIZE CARPOOLING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOLKS IN SF BAY AREA, EAST BAY, NORTH BAY, SOUTH BAY, STOCKTON, SANTA ROSA, AUBURN, ETC. ♥

Please check out Yanira’s story on the Facebook page… And LIKE Justice 4 Yanira Serrano:

19th Annual Nation Day to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.

Press Conference & Rally 1:00 PM.

March beginning 2:00 – 2:30 PM.

A video from the Alan Blueford Center for Justice regarding October 22nd.

– Consistently use our hashtags #Oct22 and #o22 in all tweets

-Trending hashtags, that are also important to add to our tweets as much as possible are: #Ferguson #FergusonOctober #BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter

-Follow, tweet at, and retweet things from Carl Dix (@Carl_Dix), SMIN (@StopMassIncNet), and NYCRevClub (@NYCRevClub)

UPDATE 10/25/14 10:00 PM. Press release:

The Israeli Zim ship is on the run, but we are closely tracking the ship. And based on our calculations, the Zim Beijing cannot make it this weekend,  but it could change course and arrive this week. Let’s show Zim what they can expect if they try to come back. Let’s show the world that the Bay Area says no to Zionism. 

We are calling on all to join us on Sunday and take a stand to stop the US and Israeli relationship, their wars, militarization and repression by disrupting international commerce. Lets make sure Zim knows it will be met with the strength of our sustained movement should it attempt to come this week. As we mobilize at the Port, Block the Boat protests are being planned all over North America with solidarity actions taking place in New York, Long Beach, Tacoma and Vancouver. ALL OUT on Sunday to show our strength and to remind Zim that Israeli business is not welcome on the West coast! Please spread the word.

UPDATE 10/24/14 9:30 PM:
Zim is on the run, but we are tracking the ship closely!
Based on our calculations, the Zim Beijing cannot make it this weekend, but it could change course and arrive this week. Let’s show Zim what they can expect if they try to come back. Meet at West Oakland BART at 3pm SUNDAY to march and rally at the Port of Oakland. It is important we are ALL OUT on Sunday to show our strength and to remind Zim that Israeli cargo is not welcome on the West coast!

———————————-

The Block the Boat Coalition calls on the SF Bay Area to join us as we stop ZIM at the Port of Oakland once again.
Stay tuned for updates!

Subscribe to text-alerts by texting “join” to (510) 346-5951
Follow us on twitter @BlockTheBoat
To get involved, contact info@araborganizing.org
Facebook event & RSVP.

================
August 2014
Longest Blockade of Israeli Ship in History
ZIM ship turned away from SSA in Oakland!

For four days straight the San Francisco Bay Area community blocked the Israeli ZIM ship from unloading at the SSA. And today, we salute the rank and file workers of ILWU local 10 for standing with us against Israeli Apartheid by honoring our pickets and letting the ship go from the SSA terminal yesterday afternoon!

Saturday we mobilized thousands of our community to show the world that Oakland does not welcome racism, apartheid or Zionism, from Ferguson to Palestine. We flooded the streets and marched towards the Port only to discover that the ZIM ship decided to stay at Sea rather than dock and be confronted by the power of our numbers. The ship attempted to dock and unload on Sunday, but within a half hour’s time hundreds of us organized community pickets requesting that workers to stand with us on the side of justice and not unload the Apartheid ship. And as ILWU rank and file always have, and as they did during South African Apartheid, they demonstrated their solidarity with the global fight against oppression and honored our picket. The following Monday and Tuesday saw both an organized call to action as well as autonomous protests determined to keep the ship from being unloaded. These efforts coupled with worker solidarity continued the success of the weekend’s total blockade of the ZIM ship.

Tuesday we declared a historic victory for Palestine as Oakland held down the longest blockade of an Israeli ship. Not only did we block the boat, but we also showed the world that racist exclusionary state of Apartheid Israel has no place on our port, and will soon find that it has no place on any port on the West Coast. After being blocked from unloading at the SSA Terminal, the ZIM ship was forced to leave and unload at another Terminal where it was met with protests by autonomous activists. This even further delayed the unloading of the ship.

From the use of tear gas to the training of police by Israeli military, Oakland feels firsthand the brutality of Israeli war-making. And Palestine knows too well the role the US plays in facilitating the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian people. From the policing and militarization of our local communities perfected with Israeli tactics of repression to the billions that the US provides Apartheid Israel, the connections are clear and are made for us. And over the last four days we showed the world that we stand shoulder to shoulder from Palestine to Oakland to Ferguson as we struggle bring down every wall, every Apartheid system and every racist state.

Palestine will be free.

Block the Boat was organized by a coalition of autonomous activists and the following organizations:

AF3IRM
Al-Awda New York
All African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP)
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
ANSWER Coalition
APEN: Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Arab Youth Organizing (AYO)
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
ASATA: Alliance of South Asians Taking Action
Bay Area Women in Black
BAYAN-USA
Bay Area CodePink
Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee
Black Organizing Project (BOP)
Black Organizing Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
Black Workers For Justice
Catalyst Project
CodePink Washington
Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
Communist Party of San Francisco
Critical Resistance – LA
Critical Resistance – Oakland
Critical Resistance – Portland
Descoloniza a Oakland/Decolonize Oakland
Free Palestine Movement
Freedom Archives
Friends of Deir Ibzi’a
Fuerza Mundial/Pueblos en Movimiento
General Union of Palestine Students – SFSU
Global Women’s Strike
Gray Panthers of San Francisco
Green Party of Alameda County
Haiti Action Committee
International Action Center
International Jewish Anti Zionist Network
International Solidarity Movement – West Bank/Gaza
International Socialist Organization
International Tribunal of Conscience for Camilo
ISM-Nor Cal
IWW Bay Area Branch
Jewish Against Genocide
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Justice for Palestinians
La Voz de l@s trabajadores/Worker’s Voice
Labor for Palestine
Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Marcha Patriotica (Colombia) – California chapter
Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
Movement Generation
National Lawyers Guild SFBA Chapter
Noam Chomsky
NorCal Friends of Sabeel
Occupy SF Action Council
ONYX Organizing Committee
The Palestine-Israel Action Committee
Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian Youth Movement
Queers Undermining Israeli Terror
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
San Francisco Green Party
School of the Americas Watch East Bay
Socialist Alternative – Bay Area Branch
Socialist Organizer
SOUL: School of Unity and Liberation
Southern Anti-Racism Network
Stanford Students for Justice
Stop the War Machine
Students for Justice in Palestine – Cal
Totally Radical Muslims
UAW Local 2865 (Academic Student Workers at the University of California)
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
US Palestinian Community Network
Veterans For Peace Chapter 69
World Can’t Wait Bay Area
Workers World Party
Xicana Moratorium

Speak out at Berkeley City Council  against renewal of Police Department Agreements with
Homeland Security/FBI programs!

The first Action Calendar item on the agenda is a Public Hearing on renewing
the Berkeley Police Department’s (BPD) agreement with Federal, local and State
law enforcement agencies.

To stop militarization of police departments we must demand that City
Councils not renew the agreement with the Homeland Security program, Urban
Areas Security Initiative (UASI), which gives grants to local police
departments for military equipment, such as tasers, drones, tanks and more.
Stopping UASI at our local City Councils would help to stop Police
Departments’ shopping spree at the annual URBAN SHIELD convention, stocked
with Homeland Security corporate merchandise.

Surveillance goes hand in hand with militarization. Ask the Council to also
vote to not renew the BPD agreement with the Northern California Regional
Intelligence Center (NCRIC), a data fusion center coordinated by the FBI’s Bay
Area Joint Terrorism Task Force, to which Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
are sent: e.g. taking a photo of a building or taking notes, especially if
you’re of a suspicious ethnic/color group.

SuperBOLD (Berkeleyans Organizing for Liberty Defense)

———————-
Berkeley Copwatch
2022 Blake St
Berkeley, CA 94704

Why: To create a physical boundary of bodies and voices blocking the transfer of ownership of our public post office

The Board of Governors of the USPS has done a skillful job of narrowing the focus of the objections to the sale of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office to the issue of two New Deal works of art contained therein.  At this time, the position of the USPS is that they’ve done everything they can to satisfy the concerns of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (an agency formed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966) and concerns of the City of Berkeley for the preservation of these artworks, even to the point of promising that the USPS will provide that protection themselves in perpetuity after the building is sold.

The Berkeley Post Office Defenders re-emphasize two objections that have been largely ignored in the struggle to save our post office:

1. The sale that the USPS intends to process is one manifestation of the neo-liberal strategy of privatization, deregulation, union-busting, and the cutting of government services, pursued via the World Bank and the WTO, which  in the last half-century  have proved to to be so detrimental to the welfare of people living in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, the nations of the former Soviet Union, Iraq, and many others.  Locally, the privately-owned Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is trying to bankrupt the publicly controlled City College of San Francisco.  The capital property of the USPS is a possession of the people of the United States as a public holding, meaning it is a component of national wealth and infrastructure, and the defense of that wealth is necessary for maintaining the viability of the national enterprise.  The Berkeley Post Office Defenders oppose the privatization of publicly owned property everywhere it is threatened, and we have mobilized our opposition locally to shield the erosion of the material foundation of community, of which the Downtown Berkeley Post Office is an element.
2. With regard to the public ownership of the New Deal artworks, the promise of the USPS to preserve them  given its strategy of privatizatioon  is a deception.  By selling more than 300 of its properties since 2006, the Board of Governors of the USPS has undermined the capital foundation of the enterprise it is publicly charged with protecting.  This insidious strategy follows the steps to complete privatization of postal services pursued by other countries  the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and The Netherlands.  Given that the Board of Governors is selling the USPS out of business, it is their intention that, very soon, they will no longer be in a position to preserve the public ownership of anything.

The Downtown Berkeley Post Office is not only a monument to public organization, it is an organ of our common body; without it we grow weaker.  The agents of privatization are chiseling away at the investment our ancestors made to the survival of democracy.  Our post office was built by the sweat equity of our great-grandparents, and financed by their tax dollars.  As such, the Postal Service has NO RIGHT to sell it.  Berkeley Post Office Defenders DEMAND that this sale be halted and that the building continue to serve our – and our great-grandchildren’s – common good.

For more on the current status of the Downtown Berkeley Post Office: https://occupyoakland.org/2014/10/berkeley-post-office-contract-sold/

Berkeley Post Office Defenders: http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/

First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999?ref=br_tf

BPOD is affiliated with Strike Debt Bay Area: http://strike-debt-bay-area.tumblr.com/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/12/1313465/-The-Seeds-of-Protest-Bloom-Staples-Boycott-Goes-National#

For background on the fight to Save Berkeley’s Post Office:

Those Damned Hippies, They’re Saving the Post Office

USPS mission:

Saving the United States Postal Service as a Public Enterprise: http://tinyurl.com/ltqq7ng

Privatization Is Social Cancer; Saving the US Postal Service: http://tinyurl.com/mbcbzrf