May Day Scott Walker Protests Will Hurt America's Workers
May Day comes but once a year, and the folks trying to oust Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker from office are taking full advantage. Building on the national outcry against Walker's moves this year to destroy public unions and eliminate collective bargaining rights for many state workers, they're calling on Americans to turn the 1st of May into a national boycott of companies that have provided political funding to Walker.
It's going to be a controversial move, no doubt. May Day is also International Workers Day, and the incensed right will tell you its unfair to take the anger out on poor defenseless companies. In one sense, they're right. The Stick It To Scott Walker movement has called for protesters to print out stickers bashing the companies that support Walker and post them on products at stores in the state.
It SOUNDS like a great idea at the outset, but it's both illegal and unfair to the little mom and pop grocery store owner who now has to go walking around the store removing these little stickers rather than say, helping customers. Even a straight boycott of the companies, while seemingly effective (we all vote with our pocketbooks) falls hollow when you realize it's the little guy running the lawnmower shop around the corner who is losing out when you refuse to buy Briggs & Stratton engines (one of Walker's donors) or the convenience store owner who can't get you to buy some Coors Beer (MillerCoors is also on the Scott Walker Watch boycott list).
If the May Day protesters want to make a difference, they'll be the "bigger people" so to speak. They'll rise above the fray, keep their stickers to themselves (post them on your fridge -- they're funny after all, and we could all use a laugh on a daily basis), and spend their Sunday writing letters to the companies instead. That's the true sacrifice for the worker on a spring day, spending it inside over the computer. Just as Target learned Americans aren't happy with their donations to anti-gay candidates, these companies can learn that supporting a guy who doesn't value the American worker is not OK whether it's in Wisconsin our outside. And it CAN be done while holding to the integrity of the support of the International worker.
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/119714/may_day_scott_walker_protests
Immigration rights group organizes May Day march
A Silicon Valley immigration rights group is hosting its fifth annual march on Sunday, where supporters will demand that workers have the right to unionize and decry the inhumane treatment of immigrants.
Called the San Jose May 1 Coalition, members will meet as early as noon at Story and King roads in East San Jose. Organizers hope thousands will join them at 4 p.m. to march the three miles to City Hall downtown.
"We're emphasizing workers' rights this year," said Cesar Juarez, organizing director of Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network or SIREN. He cited recent efforts in Wisconsin and Ohio to strip collective bargaining units of much of their rights.
Though these national stories don't specifically target immigrants, Juarez said the march will highlight immigrants' solidarity with the plight of the union worker.
He also said that typically, a large percentage of unions are made up of immigrant workers.
Juarez sees the number of supporters of immigrant rights reform growing. The number of people who turn out for the march don't necessarily reflect that, though. And there has been a significant discrepancy over turnout numbers.
Last year, Juarez said the San Jose event drew at least 12,000, though the Mercury News relied on a police account that numbered the marchers at about 5,000. In 2009, Juarez said the event drew 10,000, though the Mercury News documented there was between 500 and 1,000.
In its peak and debut year in 2006, when immigration reform was among the hottest topics nationwide, the San Jose march drew 125,000.
San Jose is one of many cities across the nation, including several in the Bay Area, in which these annual May Day marches have been held. May 1 marks International Workers Day, which was born in the late 1800s, and is formally celebrated in more than 80 countries.
Though the numbers of marchers has dwindled, organizers still say immigration reform is much needed and that immigrants are still under attack. Other than the union issue this year, organizers also are worried about various states pushing for Arizona SB 1070-like legislation, which allows police to question people about their immigration status even if the investigation is about something else, and repealing in-state tuition for undocumented students.
http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_17959834?source=rss
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