New Southside

Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay

2009-05-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

A new online Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay, designed by the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Fish and
Wildlife Research Institute, is now available on the Internet. The FWRI
created the new guide in response to requests from the public to provide
boating and angling information in an interactive, user-friendly format.

Funded through a Tampa Bay Estuary Program Bay Mini-Grant, the
interactive, online guide complements the recently updated print version
of the guide.

The guide contains all of the information found in the print version and
much more. Users can zoom in and out on specific areas of the Tampa Bay
region. They can view detailed maps of popular recreation areas, with
information and links specific to those locations. Users also can
download many of these maps directly to their computer to view and print
at their leisure.

Anglers can access up-to-date fishing regulations specific to the Tampa
Bay area, information on proper catch-and-release techniques and a list
of popular local sport fish. Paddlers can plan trips with a list of area
paddling trails linked to the corresponding trail Web sites and maps.

To view the new interactive guide or to order a printed copy of the
Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay, visit
http://research.MyFWC.com/boating_guides.

Union Members Fight off Somali Pirates!

2009-04-19T15:18:00.002-04:00

When working people have the choice to form unions, they can ensure that they receive the proper training to keep the safe on the job.

The American crew members of the Maersk Alabama - a ship recently hijacked by Somali pirates - regained control of the ship. The seamen specifically cite their union membership as a reason for how they were able to beat the pirates.

In an interview with NBC, the ship's Third Engineer, John Cronan, said this about their efforts:

"We are American seamen. We are union members. We stuck together, we did our jobs. And that's how we did it."

Green for All

2009-04-04T02:30:00.001-04:00

Update:
A year ago today, more than 1,100 people gathered to build a better future together, at The Dream Reborn conference in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the start of a nation-wide movement for an inclusive green economy.

Since The Dream Reborn, the green jobs movement has become a vibrant and powerful force in American politics.

President Obama's economic recovery plan is green, and includes $500 million dollars for green jobs training. This funding is designed not only to train workers, but also to create green pathways out of poverty for those struggling the most.

Our force has been felt outside of Washington, D.C as well. State legislatures and local governments across the country have passed landmark green jobs legislation.

Our successes cannot only be measured by laws passed and policies changed. Over the last year, the community of 1,100 that gathered in Memphis has grown to 75,000. Dozens of local organizers have been trained through the Green For All Academy, scores of local green jobs implementers have convened through our "Community of Practice" working groups, and tens of thousands of Americans have stood up for Green Jobs Now.

Where we've come in just one year is inspiring. We have created the space for the green-collar jobs movement to be bolder and louder. This means defining what the green economy will look like, making sure it works for all of us.

It's our vision and it's what Dr. King lived and died for forty-one years ago - equality and opportunity for all people.

This weekend, as you remember Dr. King and honor his legacy, you should feel proud. We are one year closer to building a country and a green economy that Dr. King could also be proud of.

Green for all,

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Chief Executive Officer, Green For All

It's official: live in Memphis from April 4-6, Green For All is bringing together the practitioners, activists, and communities at the center of the emerging green-collar economy. Community activists and neighborhood leaders from South St. Pete will be there. We will be bringing you updates here on the blog and at the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association meeting Thursday April 10th.

On Friday morning, Willeen Kelly and Chris Kelly are heading to Memphis for the 'Dream Reborn' conference, a three day commemoration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's premature passing, and a recasting of his dream for the 21st Century. The conference is organized to work for justice, opportunity and peace in urban America.

What's special about this weekend, is that the organizers have tied the push for Green Collar jobs to a vision of social justice. Their goal is to "build a green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By organizing now, the movement will insure that the billions of dollars spent on green jobs in the next fifty years include low-income people. By training people now and organizing to insure capital moves to urban green job training, we'll insure that our neighborhoods will be able to take part in these new opportunities. There's no reason we can't fight poverty and pollution at the same time...

Chris writes "We'll be back Sunday night late, but I'll try to drop an email or two from the conference and look forward to sharing the experience and information Willeen and I gather."

This is the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. This historic event will celebrate his extraordinary life and present positive solutions from today's generation of visionary leaders. A bullet killed the dreamer, but not the dream. Together, we will create ecological solutions to heal the earth while bringing jobs, justice, wealth and health to all our communities.

Green For All is bringing organizations and leaders from communities across the nation together to produce The Dream Reborn. This racially just, green gathering will celebrate the life of Dr. King and present positive solutions for social and environmental equity from today's generation of visionary leaders.

Watch these videos to learn more:
Dream Reborn Attendees Share Their Dreams

Solar Richmond Success Story - The Dream Lives in Richmond!

Van Jones Opening Remarks at Green For All Conference

The Green Economy Is Coming

For more information on Dr. King's work toward a just economy go here and here.

Dr. Martin Luther King's last speech, "I've Been to the Mountain Top "

Photo: Van Jones is a civil rights lawyer and activist in Oakland and organizer of Green for All.

Update: Marchers honor King on anniversary of death

Leaders, everyday citizens converge on Memphis to reflect on his legacy

first published 3/30/08

Supporting Partners of the Employee Free Choice Act

2009-04-02T22:28:00.004-04:00

Supporting Partners of the Employee Free Choice Act
Josh Goldstein
American Rights at Work

Sierra Club: “The green economy holds great promise to build the American middle-class. One way to ensure that it benefits the many rather than the few is by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Human Rights Watch: "Weak US labor law effectively denies millions of workers the right to form a union and bargain collectively. Congress should bring worker protections closer to international standards by passing the Employee Free Choice Act."

Sojourners: “The “right to organize” is what is at stake with the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), and it is why the Employee Free Choice Act is fundamentally a moral issue. It is a way to level the playing field, to give workers a collective voice in the wages, benefits, and conditions of their employment. It is a way to ensure their basic human dignity.” - Reverend Jim Wallis, President

National Partnership for Women and Families: "With our nation's work/family policies badly out-of-sync with the realities of this era, and the economy taking a terrible toll on families, the National Partnership for Women & Families strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act because it has the potential to dramatically improve working conditions of millions of women and men around the country. Union participation improves wages, health coverage, pensions, and other benefits that hard-working Americans need to hold jobs and care for their families and their health." - Debra Ness, President

Center for American Progress Action Fund: “The Employee Free Choice Act holds the promise of restoring workplace democracy for workers attempting to organize, boosting unionization rates, and improving the economic standing and workplace conditions for millions of American workers.”

People for the American Way: The Employee Free Choice Act supports important American values around workers’ rights to association. It provides workers a free and fair choice about how to form a union, helps workers secure their first contract in a reasonable amount of time, and toughens penalties against employers that violate the law. This is a sound and measured approach to restoring workers’ rights – and to rebuilding and renewing our nation’s economy.

Center for Community Change: “Our economy can only prosper when it works for everyone. Especially in difficult times, American communities have a history of meeting challenges by coming together. The rise of corporate greed and irresponsibility has created the worst economic crisis in this nation since the great depression. It’s time that we empower American families and working people to hold corporations accountable. Through unions, workers come together to balance their voices with the power of companies, and to build an economy that works for all of us.”- Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director

National Consumers League: The National Consumers League is proud to join with our labor friends and other national consumer groups in supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Consumer groups understand that the fair wages, benefits, and protections that union workers receive allow them to have a decent standard of living and be better-informed consumers. That is good for America and that is why NCL supports the Employee Free Choice Act.

Alliance for Justice: "Union members have been a key voice for all Americans on issues like affordable health care, public education, green jobs, and equal opportunity. Restoring the freedom to choose a union is a key to getting America back on track... Congress should pass the Employee Free Choice Act to help strengthen workers' ability to win justice at work and in our communities." - Nan Aron, President

Catholics United: “The Employee Free Choice Act is the cornerstone of an economy that serves working families. The right to organize is foundational to Catholic social teaching. Catholics United stands with working families and supports the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.”

National Employment Law Project: “Workers have a fundamental right to join together into unions, but any semblance of a free and fair process for exercising that right is destroyed by ruthless employer opposition to organizing and a legal framework favoring employers every step of the way. By insisting that workers alone get to decide whether to form a union and the process for making that choice, the Employee Free Choice Act will renew workplace democracy, improve jobs, strengthen the economy and rebuild America’s middle class. This simple and just measure will at long last genuinely restore “the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.” - Christine L. Owens, Executive Director

Jobs with Justice: “The Employee Free Choice Act is an issue not only for workers but also for their communities. When workers are fired for organizing on the job the effects ripple through their families, their churches, and their neighborhoods. When workers can choose a union through a fair process it creates a stable and prosperous community. That’s why Jobs with Justice supports the Employee Free Choice Act as a necessary part of a broad economic recovery that benefits working men and women.”

Economic Policy Institute: "The evidence suggests that more than 50 million Americans who don’t have union representation today would choose it if they were given an easy, safe way to do so," he said. "This legislation is an essential part of rebuilding the middle class in America and ensuring broadly shared prosperity."- Ross Eisenbrey, Vice-President

Campaign for America's Future: "We built a middle class because workers were able to win a decent share of the profits and productivity that they helped to generate. Unions were central to that. That is why passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is so important now, as we make the reforms needed to build an economy that works for the many and not the few." - Robert Borosage, Co-Director

The Partnership for Working Families: Millions of Americans are in economic crisis, facing the loss of their jobs, their health care, and their homes. The Employee Free Choice Act is a critical step toward rebuilding the middle class and will restore balance to our economy and our country.

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement: "Latino workers will strongly benefit from the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. It will assist them in their efforts to organize at the workplace which in turn will ensure better wages; health benefits and the opportunity for a secure retirement. The introduction and ultimate passage of this legislation will help move workers into the middle class and thus help reinvigorate the economy." Dr. Gabriela Lemus, Executive Director

Workplace Fairness: “The Employee Free Choice Act is the best stimulus package we have. Workers with good jobs, benefits and job security are able to confidently spend their earnings and help lift our economy out of this recession.” - Paula Brantner, Executive Director

USAction: “One key to economic recovery is rebuilding the middle class in this country and that’s why we need the Employee Free Choice Act. Big business and CEOshave too much power, make too much money and wield too much influence. They get golden parachutes and bailouts while the workers get lower wages, higher health care costs and reduced pensions. So the Employee Free Choice Act is about leveling the playing field.” - William McNary, President

Pride at Work: "It is still legal to fire someone for being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender in 30 states. In states without non-discrimination legislation, labor unions are the LGBT community's front line of defense against workplace discrimination. This is why so many national LGBT organizations have signed on in support of the Employee Free Choice - because an LGBT workers best protection is a union contract." - Sandra Telep, Program Director

Interfaith Worker Justice: “All faith traditions teach that workers should be treated with respect and dignity and paid fairly. Unions serve vital roles in ensuring workers' just treatment and pay, which is why Interfaith Worker Justice supports the Employee Free Choice Act. In this time of economic crisis, workers need a voice in the future of their companies that comes through collective bargaining.” - Kim Bobo, Executive Director

Bishop Gabino Zavala: “The right of workers to freely associate and form unions without fear of intimidation or retaliation is consistent with the democratic principles that sustain our society and ensure the quality of life for its citizens. This right is also consistent with the precepts and teaching of the Roman Catholic tradition.”

Rabbi Robert Marx: “The Employee Free Choice Act offers an important opportunity to offer more than words to support the just goals of millions of working people.”

Rev. Dr. Frank Raines: “By empowering workers, the Employee Free Choice Act will enable more people to earn better wages and improve working conditions that will allow them to lift up their families.”

Imam Mahdi Bray and Hussam Ayloush: "An Islamic Perspective on the Employee Free Choice Act" available at Interfaith Worker Justice

Rev. Dr. William Jarvis Johnson: “Discourse about work and the plight of workers is sacred discourse that belongs in the pulpit and in churches all across this country.”

Rev. Aaron McEmrys: “The word "union" best describes what happens when groups of individuals come together in a spirit of mutual support, respect and love. In this sense, the concept of union is one of the most beautiful and spiritual words in my vocabulary.”

For more faith spokespersons, visit Interfaith Worker Justice.

Catholic Labor Network Organizing Committee Employee Free Choice Act Endorsement Statement:

Well over a century ago, with the rise of industrial capitalism, Pope Leo XIII issued his encyclical Rerum Novarum. Reflecting on how the modern economy too often offered the rich and powerful an opportunity to exploit working people, he took consolation in the multiplication of “workingmen’s unions” that helped ameliorate the condition of labor. “There are not a few associations of this nature,” the Holy Father observed, “but it were greatly to be desired that they should become more numerous and more efficient.”

But we live today in a nation where associations of this nature are becoming steadily fewer, in large measure because of widespread unlawful action by employers to obstruct the right of workers to organize in unions. Conservative estimates indicate that tens of thousands of workers are fired every year for exercising their lawful right to organize. Seeking a union under today’s National Labor Relations Act system is an arduous and dangerous process for employees if their employers object, yet penalties for violating the Act are so trivial as to create economic incentives for illegal union-busting activities.

Catholic social teaching on the right of workers to organize has been admirably consistent over the century since Leo XIII wrote, with John Paul II observing even more emphatically in his 1981 encyclical “Laborem Exercens” that labor unions are “indeed a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice” and in fact “an indispensible element of social life.”

We in the Catholic Labor Network agree that trade unions represent “an indispensable element of social life” and that “it were greatly to be desired that they should become more numerous,” but that the current condition of labor law in the United States militates against this. The Employee Free Choice Act would help address this problem. For this reason, we in the Catholic Labor Network conclude that the Employee Free Choice Act represents a sound public policy method to effect the purposes of Catholic Social Teaching.

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State Senator Dan Gelber Supports Employee Free Choice Act

2009-03-19T20:01:00.000-04:00

Scary Movie - The Horror of the Employee Free Choice Act

2009-03-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

Please buy American.

2009-02-22T16:12:00.003-05:00

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock

(MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6am.

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA )

was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG ).

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA ),

designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes

(MADE IN KOREA )

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA )

he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO )

to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch

(MADE IN TAIWAN )to the radio (MADE IN INDIA )

he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY )filled it with GAS

(from Saudi Arabia ) and continued his search for a good paying job.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day

checking his Computer (Made In Malaysia ),

Joe decided to relax for a while.He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL )

poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE )and turned on his

TV (MADE IN INDONESIA ),and then wondered why he can't find

a good paying job in the United States .
-----------

Please buy American. Click here and here for a list of American union made products.

2009-02-06T19:55:00.002-05:00

March 3-April 14, Tuesdays - FAB Families Fit for Life Program provides FREE cooking and exercise classes for the whole family at St. Mark's MB Chruch, 1301 37th St. So. in St. Pete from 6:30P-8:30P. FMI/Register: 727-582-2122 or www.stpeteFABFamilies.com.
.

2009-02-06T19:55:00.001-05:00

March 1-6, Sunday-Friday - Join Pastors Louis Murphy Sr., Frank Peterman, Clark Hazely, Robert Ward, Ricky Houston, and Norris Martin for a City Wide Revival 2009, at Mt. Pilgram MB Church, 3500 5th Ave. So. in St. Pete. The first night (Sunday) will start at 4P and will continue nightly at 7:45P.

Black History Month Event at Johnson Branch Library

2009-02-01T21:53:00.001-05:00

Johnson Branch Library - 1059 18th Ave. S 893-7113 Monday, February 23, 2009 at 6:30 pm
	What is Juneteenth? Presentation by Ms. Faye Dowdell, President and CEO of Juneteenth St. Petersburg, Inc.
Ms. Faye Dowdell will discuss the origins of the Juneteenth celebration. Historically, Juneteenth refers to the signing date of the Emancipation Proclamation, and is celebrated nationwide with picnics and potluck gatherings, fun, and programs that feature history and self-improvement.

2009-01-27T21:41:00.000-05:00

Feb. 3 - Crime Prevention Seminar.
Enoch Davis Center. 11 a.m - 1 p.m. Presented by the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas County Valuable information will be shared by experts in the field of crime prevention. Topics such as fraud, scams and identity theft will be presented. 727-893-7159.

2009-01-22T19:29:00.000-05:00

Buy from Powell's Books and help Crime Watch

2009-01-22T07:16:00.000-05:00

From humble storefront beginnings in 1971 on a derelict corner of northwest Portland, Oregon, Powell's Books has grown into one of the world's great bookstores, with seven locations in the Portland metropolitan area, and one of the book world's most successful dot-coms serving customers worldwide. The workers of Powell's are organized under the banner of ILWU Local 5.
Type a title, author or type of book in the search box and and click search, or just click search to browze Powell's online store. 7% of your purchace made through this search box will be donated to crime watch

The Midtown People's Law School

2009-01-20T22:03:00.002-05:00

St. Petersburg Bar Association and St. Petersburg College

Present

The Midtown People's Law School

Featuring Judges, Attorneys, Clerk of the Court and Court Staff

All sessions are scheduled to be held at St. Petersburg College Midtown Campus

1048 22^nd Street South, St. Petersburg

Cost: FREE – Everyone Welcome

Registration: NONE (seating limited to first come, first serve basis)

Location; Room MT104A

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations will be provided for individuals with disabilities. Contact the OSSD office at 727-341-4316 V/TTY, Fax 727-341-7988

February 17, 2009

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Family Law Issues

Speakers: Carin Constantine, Esq., Gary Williams, Esq. and Laurel Farrell, Esq.

March 17, 2009

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Traffic Court and Criminal Matters

Speaker: TBA

April 21, 2009

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Landlord/Tenant and Real Estate Transactions

Speaker: TBA

May 19 2009

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Wills, Advance Directives and Life Planning

Speaker: Trish Dockery, Esq.

More information

Black History Month

2009-01-16T22:07:00.001-05:00

Featured Events
			USF St. Petersburg Calendar of Events Barry Scott, A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. January 29, 2009, 7 p.m. Location: USF St. Petersburg, Campus Activities Center, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions Barry Scott discusses the Civil Rights Movement and recreates King's most inspiring speeches. Guests: The Alumni Singers. More

			SANKOFA: African-American Museum on Wheels, Angela Jennings, Curator February 2-3, 2009, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Location: USF St. Petersburg, Campus Activities Center, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions Spanning the period from 1860 to the present, SANKOFA will take you on a journey through slavery, the era of King Cotton, and the uplifting days of Emancipation. More

			Umdabu South African Dance Company February 11, 2009, noon Location: USF St. Petersburg, Campus Activities Center, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions Come and enjoy an afternoon of traditional and contemporary South African history and dance. More

			God's Trombones: A Celebration of James Weldon Johnson February 16, 2009, 7 p.m. Location: Studio@620, 620 1st Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions Performers, poets and clergy read the work of author and activist James Weldon Johnson, with trombone by Buster cooper, at the Studio@620. Through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. More

			Salvador Dali Museum Book Exhibit, VisualKulture.cat February 20, 2009 - June 2009 Location: USF St. Petersburg, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions This exhibition surveys the creative production of the 'artist book' from famed Catalans Dali and Miro to the current generation. Dali Museum and Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. More

			Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, The Legacy of African-American Achievement March 1, 2009, 1:00 p.m. Location: USF St. Petersburg, Campus Activities Center, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Map and directions Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, this year’s speaker for the Debbie and Brent Sembler Florida Holocaust Museum Lecture Series at the College of Education, is an American athlete and retired professional basketball player who is widely considered to be one of the greatest NBA players of all time. In addition to his historic career as a basketball player, Abdul-Jabbar has served as coach for professional and high school basketball teams. As an author, Abdul-Jabbar has published five books, among them Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement, On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance and Giant Steps (an homage to jazz great John Coltrane). More

			David Walton, M.D., Medicine and Social Justice March 10, 2009, 6:15 p.m. Location:TBD Dr. David Walton, a physician working with the Partners in Health projects in Haiti, will discuss the impact of social justice on medicine. More

			Andras Miklos, Global Inequities in Health Care March 26, 2009, 10 a.m. Location:TBD Join Andras Miklos, Fellow at Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health, for a fascinating healthcare discussion. More

Michelle Obama - USAService.org

2009-01-12T19:47:00.002-05:00

Local events

Making His Dream a Reality

2009-01-07T20:58:00.000-05:00

Four decades ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led what would be his last campaign—a strike in Memphis, Tenn., involving hundreds of working people who dared to take a stand for dignity and respect on the job and a voice at work with AFSCME.During the strike, King spoke to the workers and reminded them of the dignity of their labor:"So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth."

Watch video of his speech here.

Tragically, King never witnessed the success the Memphis sanitation workers achieved. The 64-day strike ended with a union contract for 1,300 members of AFSCME Local 1733. The strike is credited with reviving a dormant union movement in Memphis and initiating a wave of public employee union organizing in other parts of the South.In honor of the strike’s 40th anniversary, the AFL-CIO is holding its 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance this weekend in Memphis. More than 900 union and civil rights activists are gathering to reaffirm their commitment to making King’s dream a reality.

Learn more here and here.

The weekend is devoted to community service projects serving the community that King worked to help—the poor and disadvantaged.AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will present a computer lab paid for by union members to a local elementary school, and AFSCME and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will make contributions to schools and the Head Start program.“Working people across the country know that civil and worker rights go hand in hand, and that without the tools for a proper education, students can never go on to attain the kind of economic equality in which King and other leaders believed,” Sweeney said. A few years before the Memphis strike, King spoke of the importance of a strong labor movement in our country’s history. “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress,” he said.

This year, 40 years after Dr. King’s death, we ask ourselves, "How will things be for our children 40 years from NOW?" We owe it to him to keep up this fight—and that's exactly what we're planning to do.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Memphis strike, pick up Michael K. Honey’s book, “Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign” at the Union Shop Online.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Labor

Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires, and few Negro employers. Our needs are identical with labor's needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.
AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. That is the dream...
AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

New economic patterning through automation is dissolving the jobs of workers in some of the nation's basic industries. This is to me a catastrophe. We are neither technologically advanced nor socially enlightened if we witness this disaster for tens of thousands without finding a solution. And by a solution, I mean a real and genuine alternative, providing the same living standards which were swept away by a force called progress, but which for some is destruction. The society that performs miracles with machinery has the capacity to make some miracles for men—if it values men as highly as it values machines.
UAW 25th Anniversary dinner, April 27, 1961

As I have said many times, and believe with all my heart, the coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human dignity here in America is that of the Negro and the forces of labor, because their fortunes are so closely intertwined.
Letter to Amalgamated Laundry Workers, January 1962

It is in this area (politics) of American life that labor and the Negro have identical interests. Labor has grave problems today of employment, shorter hours, old age security, housing and retraining against the impact of automation. The Congress and the Administration are almost as indifferent to labor's program as they are toward that of the Negro. Toward both they offer vastly less than adequate remedies for the problems which are a torment to us day after day.
UAW District 65 Convention, September 1962

At the turn of the century women earned approximately ten cents an hour, and men were fortunate to receive twenty cents an hour. The average work week was sixty to seventy hours. During the thirties, wages were a secondary issue; to have a job at all was the difference between the agony of starvation and a flicker of life. The nation, now so vigorous, reeled and tottered almost to total collapse. The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over our nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.
Illinois AFL-CIO Convention, October 1965

The South is labor's other deep menace. Lower wage rates and improved transportation have magnetically attracted industry. The wide-spread, deeply-rooted Negro poverty in the South weakens the wage scale there for the white as well as the Negro. Beyond that, a low wage structure in the South becomes a heavy pressure on higher wages in the North.
Illinois AFL-CIO Convention, October 1965

In the days to come, organized labor will increase its importance in the destinies of Negroes. Automation is imperceptibly but inexorably producing dislocations, skimming off unskilled labor from the industrial force. The displaced are flowing into proliferating service occupations. These enterprises are traditionally unorganized and provide low wage scales with longer hours. The Negroes pressed into these services need union protection, and the union movement needs their membership to maintain its relative strength in the whole society.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? 1967

Today Negroes want above all else to abolish poverty in their lives, and in the lives of the white poor. This is the heart of their program. To end humiliation was a start, but to end poverty is a bigger task. It is natural for Negroes to turn to the Labor movement because it was the first and pioneer anti-poverty program. It will not be easy to accomplish this program because white America has had cheap victories up to this point. The limited reforms we have won have been at bargain rates for the power structure. There are no expenses involved, no taxes are required, for Negroes to share lunch counters, libraries, parks, hotels and other facilities. Even the more substantial reforms such as voting rights require neither monetary or psychological sacrifice. The real cost lies ahead. To enable the Negro to catch up, to repair the damage of centuries of denial and oppression means appropriations to create jobs and job training; it means the outlay of billions for decent housing and equal education.
Teamsters and Allied Trade Councils, New York City, May 1967

When there is massive unemployment in the black community, it is called a social problem. But when there is massive unemployment in the white community, it is called a Depression.
We look around every day and we see thousands and millions of people making inadequate wages. Not only do they work in our hospitals, they work in our hotels, they work in our laundries, they work in domestic service, they find themselves underemployed. You see, no labor is really menial unless you're not getting adequate wages. People are always talking about menial labor. But if you're getting a good (wage) as I know that through some unions they've brought it up...that isn't menial labor. What makes it menial is the income, the wages.
Local 1199 Salute to Freedom, March 1968

You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.
AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike, April 3, 1968.

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Speech to the UAW 25th Anniversary Dinner

2009-01-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

From IamtheUAW.org
"The UAW and Martin Luther King Jr.: Shared Beliefs, Shared History"

Starting in the late 1950’s, UAW members joined Dr. King and many others in campaigns to end segregation and to expand civil rights throughout the country.
In 1961, then UAW President Walter Reuther invited Dr. King to speak at the UAW’s 25th Anniversary Dinner in Detroit. (You can listen to part of that speech here, but please note the audio file is copyrighted).
In 1963, King and other leaders of the civil rights movement, with backing from the UAW and other labor unions, were mobilizing to pass landmark civil rights legislation.
On June 23rd, 1963, as part of that fight, Dr. King delivered the Speech at the Great March on Detroit. King worked out of an office in Solidarity House, the UAW’s headquarters, while organizing the Detroit march; the speech he gave there is considered the first version of his now famous I Have a Dream Speech delivered to over 200,000 people attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963.

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Speech to the UAW 25th Anniversary Dinner April 27, 1961

Mr. Chairman, President Reuther, distinguished Secretary of Labor, Mr. Goldberg, Senator Hart, all of the distinguished guests assembled here on the platform, delegates and friends of UAW, Ladies and Gentlemen, I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here this evening and to be a part of his auspicious occasion, and
I cannot stand here without giving just a word of thanks to this great union for all that you have done across these 25 years. You have made life more meaningful for millions of people, and I'm sure that America is a better place in which to live as a result of the great work that has been done by UAW. You have given to this nation a magnificent example of honest, democratic trade unionism. And your great president, Walter Reuther, will certainly go down in history as one of the truly great persons of this generation. (APPLAUSE)
I bring greetings to you this evening from the hundreds and thousands - yea, millions of people in the Southland who are struggling for freedom and human dignity. I bring greetings to you from the thousands of Negro students who have stood up courageously against the principalities of segregation for all of the all of these months they have moved in a uniquely meaningful orbit, imparting light and heat to distant satellites. And, as a result of their non-violent and yet courageous struggle, they have been able to bring about integration in more than 139 cities at the lunch counters. (APPLAUSE)
I am sure that when historians look back over this particular era of our history, they will have to record this movement as one of the most significant epics of our heritage.
Now, as I think with you tonight and think about this significant occasion, I would like to open by saying that organized labor has come a long, long way from the days of the strike-breaking injunctions of federal courts, from the days of intimidation and firings in the plants, from the days that your union leaders could be physically beaten with impunity. The clubs and claws of the heartless anti-labor forces have been clipped and you now have organizations of strength and intelligence to keep your interest from being submerged and ignored. This is certainly the glorious meaning of your 25th Anniversary.
Negroes who are now but beginning their march from the dark and desolate Egypt of segregation and discrimination can gain from you real inspiration and encouragement for the hard road still ahead. But though we have a multitude of problems almost absorbing every moment of our time and consuming almost every ounce of our energies, we cannot be unmindful of new problems confronting labor. And toward these problems we are not neutral because they are our problems as well.
The auto workers are facing hard core unemployment. New economic patterning through automation and relocation of plants is dissolving the nation's basic industries. This is to me a catastrophe. We are neither technologically advanced nor socially enlightened as a nation if we witness this disaster for tens of thousands with finding a solution. And by a solution I mean a real and genuine alternative providing the same living standards and opportunities which were swept away by a force called progress, but which for many is destruction.
A Society that performs miracles with machinery has the capacity to make some miracles for men if it values men as highly as it values machines.
This is really the crux of the problem. Are we as concerned for human values and human resources as we are for material and mechanical values? The automobile industry is not alone a production complex of assembly lines and steel-forming equipment. It is an industry of people who must live in decency with the security for children, for old age, for health and cultural life. Automation cannot be permitted to become a blind monster which grinds out more cars and simultaneously snuffs out the hopes and lives of the people by whom the industry was built.
Perhaps few people can so well understand the problems of auto workers and others in labor as Negroes themselves, because we built a cotton economy for 300 years as slaves on which the nation grew powerful, and we still lack the most elementary rights of citizens or workers. We too realize that when human values are subordinated to blind economic forces, human beings can become human scrap.
Our kinship was not born, however, with the rise of automation. In the birth of your organization as you confronted recalcitrant antagonists, you forged new weapons appropriate to your fight. Thus in the 30s, when industrial unionism sought recognition as a form of industrial democracy, there were powerful forces which said to you the same words we as Negroes hear now: "Never…..You are not ready…..You are really seeking to change our form of society….You are Reds….You are troublemakers…..You are stirring up discontent and discord where none exists….You are interfering with our propertyrights…. You are captives of sinister elements who would exploit you."
Both of us have heard these reckless charges. Both of us know that what we have sought were simple basic needs without which no man is a whole person.
In your pursuit of these goals during the middle 30s, in part of your industry you creatively stood up for your rights by sitting down at your machines, just as our courageous students are sitting down at lunch counters across the South. They screamed at you and said that you were destroying property rights-but nearly 30 years later the ownership of the automobile industry is still in the hands of its stockholders and the value of its shares has multiplied manyfold, producing profits of awesome size, and we are proudly borrowing your techniques, and though the same old and tired threats and charges have been dusted off for us, we doubt that we shall collectivize a single lunch counter or nationalize the consumption of sandwiches and coffee. (APPLAUSE)
Because you persisted in your quest for a better life, you brought new horizons to the whole nation. Industry after industry was compelled to civilize its practices and in so doing benefited themselves along with you. The new unions became social institutions, which stabilized the nation, fortified it and thrust it up to undreamed of levels of production.
There are more ties of kinship between labor and the Negro people than tradition. For example, labor needs a wage-hour bill which puts a firm floor under wage scales. Negroes need the same measures, even more desperately, for so many of us earn less than One Dollar and twenty-five cents an hour. Labor needs housing legislation to protect it as a consumer. Negroes need housing legislation also. Labor needs an adequate old-age medical care bill and so do Negroes. The list might be extended ad infinitum for it is axiomatic that what labor needs. Negroes need and simple logic therefore puts us side by side in the struggle for all elements in the decent standard of living.
As we survey the problems of labor from the chilling threat of automation to the needs in housing and social welfare generally, we confront the necessity to have a Congress responsive to liberal legislation. Here again the kinship of interests of labor and the Negro people expresses itself. Negroes need liberal Congressmen if they are to realize equality and opportunity. The campaign to grant the ballot to Negroes in the South has profound implications From all I have outlines, it is clear that the Negro vote would not be utilized in a vacuum. Negroes exercising a free suffrage would march to the polls to support those candidates who would be partial to social legislation. Negroes in the South, whether they elected white or Negro Congressmen, would be placing in office a liberal candidate, if you will-a-labor candidate. (APPLAUSE) No other political leader could have a program possessing appeal to Negroes.
In these circumstances, the campaign for Negro suffrage is both a fulfillment of constitutional rights and a fulfillment of labor's needs in a fast changing economy. Therefore, I feel justified in asking you for your continued support in the struggle to achieve the ballot all over the nation and in the South in particular. We, the Negro people and labor, by extending the frontiers of democracy to the South, inevitably will sow the seed of liberalism, where reaction has flourished unchallenged for decades. A new day will dawn which will see militant, steadfast and reliable Congressmen from the South joining those from the Northern industrial states to design and enact legislation for the people rather than for the privileged.
Now I need not say to you that this problem and all of the problems which we face in the nation and in the world, for that matter, will not work itself out. We know that if the problem is to be solved, we must work to solve it. Evolution may be true in the biological realm, but when we week to apply it to the whole of society, there is very little evidence for it.
Social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. Without this hard work, time itself becomes the ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of social stagnation. So in order to realize the American dream of economic justice and of the brotherhood of man, men and women all over the nation must continue to work for it.
They have certain words that are used in every academic discipline and pretty soon they become a part of the technical nomenclature of that discipline . Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any word in modern psychology-it is a word maladjusted, this is the ringing cry of a new child of psychology-maladjusted.
Now certainly all of us are desirous of living the well-adjusted life in order to avoid the neurotic and schizophrenic personalities, but if you will allow the preacher in me to come out now, let me say to you that there are some things in our social order in which I'm proud to be maladjusted and to which I call upon you to continue to be maladjusted. (APPLAUSE)
I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination . I never intend to adjust myself to religious bigotry. I never intend to become adjusted to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to become adjusted to the madness of militarism of the self-depleting effect of physical violence. In a day when Sputniks and Explorers are dashing through outer space and guided ballistic missiles are carving highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can win a war. It is no longer a choice between violence and no-violence, it is either non-violence or non-existence. And so I'm proud to be maladjusted. (APPLAUSE)
It may well be that the salvation of our world lies in the hands of the maladjusted and so let us be maladjusted if maladjusted as Prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day could cry out in words that echo across the centuries. "Let judgment run down like waters and righteous like a mighty stream. "as maladjusted as Abraham Lincoln who had the vision to see that this nation could not exist "half slave and half free," as maladjusted as Thomas Jefferson, who, in the midst of an age amazingly adjusted to slavery, would cry out in words lifted to cosmic proportions, "We hold these truth's to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights…..(APPLAUSE)
And I believe that through such maladjustment we will be able to emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of man's inhumanity to man into the bright and glittering daybreak of freedom, justice and human dignity for all men.
We will continue to work, and work with the faith that this dream can be realized. I believe it will be realized. For although the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends towards justice. Before this dream is realized, maybe some will have to get scarred up; before the dream is realized, maybe some will have to go to jail; before the dream is realized, maybe some will have to face physical death; but if physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children from a permanent life of psychological death, then nothing could be more honorable. (APPLAUSE)
There is something in this universe. So we must continue to struggle for economic justice-the brotherhood of man with the conviction that there is something in this universe which justifies Carlyle in saying, "No lie can live forever." There is something in this universe which justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying, "Truth crushed to earth shall rise again." There is something in this universe which justifies James Russell Lowell in saying, "Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. " Yet that scaffold sways the future.
This is our hope. This is the faith that will carry us on the and if we will stand by this and continue to work for the ideal, we will be able to bring into being that new day. This will be the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing anew with the Negro slaves of old, "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (APPLAUSE)

From UAW.ORG
Art Credit: MLK Stencil By Bonard, Some rights reserved

Abasi Ote performance

2008-12-31T18:59:00.001-05:00

You're Invited to an Alternative Visions of Peace (AVP) opening reception and art show on Sunday, Janurary 25, 2009 at the Studio @ 620 in St. Petersburg, FL.

A celebration of diverstiy, the reception will highlight artwork, dance, music and poetry related to peace. The opening will feature patchwork pillows made by young women in the Quilt Project of the Florida Youth Corps as well as the artwork of local artists and non-artists alike who joined together to create multifariously painted chairs and imaginative craft projects.

Performing as part of the opening celebration will be Abasi Ote. Ote is known for playing World/Folk music and instruments including Didgeridoo, Tibetan Bowl, Conch Shell horn, Kilimba (African Mirba) to name a few.

Admission for the opening reception is free to the general public. Purchased artwork will help benefit AVP, local artists and the studio @ 620.

Experiential Workshops

Mini experiential AVP workshops will be offered the first week in February exploring the concept of transformative conflict resolution. Each one is unique.

February 2 6:30-8:30 PM : "Creating a positive and affirming community"

February 3 6:30-8:30 PM : "Practicing pro-active communication"

February 5, 4:30-6:30 PM : "Transformative Conflict Resolution"

A team of experienced trainers will facilitate the workshops.

About AVP

Alternative Visions of Peace, known internationally as the Alternatives to Violence Project, is a non-profit organization which sponsors workshops in war-torn countries (such as Rwanda and Kenya, Columbia and Bosnia), in prisons and communities throughout the US and around the world. Workshops involve basic building blocks of affirmation, community building, communication and cooperation skills, dealing with conflict management and resolution experientially, and through introduction of the concept of Transforming Power which is at the core of the project. Participants examine violence as it surrounds us in our lives and how it is personal to each of us. By working and playing together, we discover ways to function more effectively and peacefully every day.
AVP Tampa Bay consists of a group of community volunteers who offer at least one workshop a month, often two, at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, Women's Camp in central Florida; workshops in the Tampa Bay community for youth.and adults. It currently has an active group of young adults in the Peace Studies Program at USF/Tampa working with students at the college. Dr. Darrell Hefte, Coordinator of AVP Tampa Bay, has also worked with children and youth using AVP principles through the Pinellas County School System; the Pinellas County Health Department; and with Family Services as part of a grant to serve the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pinellas County (KUNGA).
Come find out more about AVP during our open-house on Sunday and during the week when AVP facilitators will be available to talk and when mini-workshops will be offered.

To find out more about AVP, please visit http://www.avpusa.org online or e-mail avp-tampabay@tampabay.rr.com

Contributing Organizations/Volunteers

Youth Arts Corp: A Program of Family Resources, Inc., is a free youth development, arts education and job training program that uses the fine arts to help youth reach their potentional. The opening will feature patchwork pillows made by young women in the Quilt Project of the Florida Youth Corps at Wildwood Community Center.

Community Volunteers: Local artists and non-artists alike joined together to create multifariously painted chairs and imaginative craft projects.

About Abasi Ote

Abasi Ote - Excels at The Art of Primal Musical Instrument Making
He is noted for his sounds that he creates on the aboriginal Australian didgeridoo and for the making and playing of primal music instruments from Africa & the Middle East such as the Outa, Bull Roarer, and Clapper. Abasi Ote aslo does presentations that include information on the historical origins of instruments, their relationship to ecology and the cultures they come from. Abasi Ote, a peace maker, musician and primal instrument maker, teaches you to discover music anywhere, through innovation, adaptation, and borrowing from different cultures.

Abasi uses traditional and indigenous instruments such as wooden flutes, didgeridoos, bull roarers, rainsticks, musical mouth bow, and clappers. He teaches about their historical origins, as well as, their relationships to the ecology and the cultures from which they are derived. He pays special attention to Africa and Australia."Many children are becoming passive consumers at an early age," Abasi says. Without elaborate toys, games, and media, they often regard their surroundings as inadequate or boring."

Abasi's hands-on presentation encourages the audience to identify and make use of the bounty of human and natural resources all around us, creating deeper sense of connection to the world.

Abasi Ote & Joseph Z

2008-12-31T18:08:00.001-05:00

Building a Health Ministry Workshop

2008-12-30T23:35:00.000-05:00

Save The Date

January 3, 2009, Saturday -
Churches United For Health Congregations will present a Building a Health Ministry Workshop at the James B. Sanderlin Family Service Center, 2335 22nd Ave. So. in St. Petersburg from 8:30A-1P. Churches who wish to participate should contact the Sanderlin Center at 727-321-9444 by 12/27/08. Registration limited to two people per RSVP.

Toxic Toys Jingle

2008-11-24T20:07:00.000-05:00

The United Steelworkers (USW) union has produced a video (featuring singing Steelworker kids) that symbolizes what the Stop Toxic Imports campaign is all about--protecting our children from dangerous imported products and fighting unfair trade laws that allow global corporations to cheat us out of good jobs.

Here are some nontoxic gift ideas.

The Union Shop Online has a great selection of books for children of all ages. Starting with Don Brown's classic tale, Kid Blink Beats the World, about a group of powerless kids who confront some of the world's most powerful adults—and win, to Peter J. Welling’s Joe Van der Katt and the Great Picket Fence, the children in your life can learn about the power of collective action.

We’ve got many, many more, including:

· Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin

· The Night Worker by Kate Banks

· Breaker: A Boy's Story of the 1902 Pennsylvania Coal Miners' Strike by N.A. Perez

· Legendary Labor Leaders by Thomas Streissguth

· ¡Sí, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! by Diana Cohn (Bilingual)

Click here for our entire Union Shop Online children’s gift collection.

Did you know that congress sends $4 billion of our tax money to China every year?

Obama Outlines Job Creation Plan

2008-11-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

Holiday Cards on line

2008-11-13T21:20:00.004-05:00

Grandma and grandpa, cousin Frank, aunt Ann and uncle Bruce. So many relatives to stay in touch with, so many cards to write, so little time to write them.

Get started now by ordering some beautiful 100 percent union-printed holiday cards. Finde a unique selection at The Union Shop Online for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other winter holiday you celebrate. Colorful, whimsical, thought-provoking and inspirational, our cards will help you communicate your feelings of holiday joy.

Don’t forget, Ray Anthony Printers, right here in Tampa, also custom prints Christmas cards. Contact him at (813) 931-8610 or via email at rrayanthony@aol.com for a catalog.

2008-11-09T21:28:00.002-05:00

New Southside

Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay

Union Members Fight off Somali Pirates!

Green for All

Leaders, everyday citizens converge on Memphis to reflect on his legacy

Supporting Partners of the Employee Free Choice Act

State Senator Dan Gelber Supports Employee Free Choice Act

Scary Movie - The Horror of the Employee Free Choice Act

Please buy American.

Black History Month Event at Johnson Branch Library

Buy from Powell's Books and help Crime Watch

The Midtown People's Law School

Black History Month

USF St. Petersburg Calendar of Events

Michelle Obama - USAService.org

Making His Dream a Reality

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Speech to the UAW 25th Anniversary Dinner

Abasi Ote performance

Experiential Workshops

About AVP

Contributing Organizations/Volunteers

About Abasi Ote

Abasi Ote & Joseph Z

Building a Health Ministry Workshop

Toxic Toys Jingle

Obama Outlines Job Creation Plan

Holiday Cards on line