Blog / International Solidarity
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UFW: Override Bush Regs
Bush's devastating new H2A regs still in effect. Tell Congress to override now
[from United Farm Workers]
Change has started. Upon taking office President Obama immediately stayed any pending or new 11th hour regulations that the Bush administration tried to push through.
However, this does not include the devastating new H2A regulations we wrote to you about. These regulations were not included as they already went into effect on Saturday and the only way they can be stopped through a congressional override that President Obama can then sign into law.
We need your help. These Bush administration H2A regulations gut existing protections for both domestic and foreign farm workers. They make it easier for growers to slash the pay of domestic farm workers and hire imported foreign laborers instead of U.S. field workers. They weaken government protections in an industry known for violating the minimum wage, housing requirements and other rules.
The new Obama Administration is facing a mountain of problems left by the outgoing administration. All of them are important. And all require action.
We need your help to ensure that farm workers do not get buried under the pile of crises. With a vote in Congress and a stroke of a pen, the new administration can reverse the terrible changes the Bush Administration wrote into effect. Please act now and e-mail your Congress members today and ask them to take immediate action.
Tell-A-Friend: Every e-mail sent makes a difference. Forward this message to at least 10 friends or family and ask them to send an e-mail too.
* If you want more background information or for the latest updates regarding the Bush Administration H2A regulations please click here.
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Solidarity: 1199 & Via Campesina
In the spirit of solidarity, Local 1199 Service Employees international Union (SEIU) is hosting Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, head of the Via Campesina for Haiti and leader of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) here in New York City. Jean-Baptiste is organizing a movement of international labor to agitate for peasants' rights in Haiti and to denounce the Haitian government for corruption.
On November 20, 2008, Jean-Baptiste spoke at the Local 1199 Bread & Roses Gallery. He discussed how recently hurricanes have caused $1billion worth of damage in Haiti. In particular, $250million of the country's agricultural sector have been destroyed. Ten thousands acres of banana/plantain field were destroyed, 90,000 animals lost, and 6,000 acres of rice.
Unfortunately, hundreds of millions of dollars in relief aid have lined the pockets of corrupt officials and not gone to the workers who really need a hand. Money that does go to agriculture usually goes to farms that are owned by government officials.Food-for-work programs distribute commodity crops (wheat, soy, and flour) in the form of international aid. Farmers must leave their farms to work for a little bit of food aid, which destroys the local food economy.
Jean-Baptiste is here in New York to raise money that will go directly to farmers. MPP works to invest in farmers by using donated funds to purchase resources that will help farmers and pay for themselves. For example, MPP uses donated cash to buy female goats that are donated to farmers and inseminated so that the farmer receives many kids; but he or she also returns at least one female goat back to the program. Likewise, farmers are given 14 pounds of seeds to farm with, and they return that amount of seeds after harvesting their crop.
MMP seeks to end the feudal system of share-cropping which enslaves Haitian farmers. They have also worked to end the discriminatory practices of charging money for birth certificates.
More to come about how to get involved in the 1199/MPP solidarity movement.
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"Neighborhoods Must Be Building Blocks"
"Neighborhood groups must be building blocks for an urban food agenda," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer yesterday. And the Building Blocks Project could not agree with him more: neighborhood groups and organized workers have to stand in solidarity and speak out for food democracy.
On November 19, 2008, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 parterned with other community groups to present The Politics of Food: A Conference on New York's Next Policy Challenge. The conference included keynote speeches from U.N. General Assembly President Father Miguel D'Escoto, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Director of the Center for Social Inclusion, Maya Wiley.
650 members of the New York City community to discuss a blueprint for a city-wide food policy agenda.
D'Escoto: U.N. G.A. President Miguel D'Escoto called for a new spirit of solidarity locally and internationally: now is the time "for a new spirit of food that starts from the bottom up." D'Escoto said of Wal*Mart, "Their days are numbered."
Bloomberg: Mayor Bloomberg expressed his commitment to end the food crisis. "You cannot get fruits and vegetables in a lot of bodegas in this city," he said. He also spoke of the need to "spur development of supermarkets" by using city-owned land for supermarkets and developing zoning and financing initiatives.
Wiley: Maya Wiley spoke out against the lack of food access and the lack of opportunities for New York City's minorities. She also pointed out that a supermarket-based strategy will not work in the longterm unless we also "drastically and radically restructure" so that workers and minorities are afforded credit, living-wages; and supermarkets must begin to source locally-grown food if they are to remain relevant.
Conference participants broke out into 7 'working groups' that discussed problems with the City's food system; and together we developed solutions that will form the basis of a city-wide food blueprint. Those recommendations will be released before the end of 2008.