Field Observations – USSF 2007, Atlanta, GA
Matthew Kaneshiro
UC-Riverside
Building a Movement for Global
Climate Justice
Date: 6/27/07
PROPOSING ORGANIZATIONS FOR THIS WORKSHOP:
Friends of the Earth US, ActionAid International
USA, Indigenous Environmental Network, Institute for Policy Studies, Jubilee
USA Network, Oil Change International
MESSAGES
If you care about social
justice and global poverty, it’s time to take action on global climate
change.
• Global warming is already seriously affecting our planet and
threatens the world with increased storms and flooding, droughts, drops in food
production, water scarcity, and disease. Around the globe, the most
impoverished people are likely to bear the brunt of the impacts.
• The
United States and other rich countries are disproportionately responsible for
the greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming. Responses to climate
change must be just and equitable and acknowledge the responsibility of the
United States in creating the problems of global warming.
We can begin to build a movement for global
climate justice by:
• joining with others around the world who are
working on the climate crisis;
• finding ways to push our government to
take action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, acknowledging the disproportionate
contribution of the U.S. to the problem;
• supporting countries in the
global South and affected communities in the U.S. in adapting to the inevitable
impacts of climate change; and
• ending harmful policy practices like
fossil fuel subsidies and instead supporting clean energy solutions
WORKSHOP
This workshop aims to educate
participants about the impacts of global warming on people around the world, in
Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the United States. We will use pictures,
videos, and brief presentations on the ways in which communities are being
impacted by problems caused by climate change and how they are fighting back.
We will also highlight the growing global movement for climate justice, and
discuss opportunities for involvement in and strengthening of this global
movement.
In interactive sessions, we will discuss
possible messaging, policy, and actions to address the problems of climate
change. Discussion sessions could include:
• How to incorporate climate
justice in the climate change debate, in order to push for an acknowledgment of
equity concerns in policy discussions
• How to promote equitable
responses to climate change – both inside and outside the United States –
including funding and support for communities to adapt to climate
change.
• What sort of policies can address climate, energy, and global
poverty issues – for example, ending domestic and foreign aid for oil projects,
debt forgiveness, and funding for renewable energy
The workshop will be conducted in English, but
we hope to provide materials in Spanish.
CHALLENGES
The biggest challenges to
building a climate justice movement are misinformation and a lack of
understanding about the causes and solutions to global warming. Until very
recently in the United States, global warming has been portrayed in the media
as creating problems for ice caps and polar bears, but the impacts on human
beings have not been highlighted nearly as much. But global warming is already
disrupting the lives of people around the world, and climate-related storms,
droughts, and disease threatens the lives of millions if we do not take action
now. There are feasible actions that can be taken to address this problem, but
we need to build popular pressure to take action for climate justice
immediately.
CROSS CUTTING THEMES
Neoliberalism,
corporations, World Bank, environmental degradation, inequality, privatization,
deregulation, imperialism, capitalism, institutional racism, Hurricane Katrina,
internationalism, social justice, sustainability, popular education
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 20; 7 or so trickle-ins
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
80:20 females:males
age:
65%: 20 – 30 30%: 30 – 40 5%: 40+
predominantly white; a few of: south asian, black, asian
English. 1 IBASE representative
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
Friends of the Earth; an international network of environmental movements
Action Aid
University of Policy Studies
Indigenous Environmental Network
Jubilee International
All females
Observations
Primarily an informative session re: the issues and organizations involved.
The Q&A session raises issues regarding the movement
-local vs. macro approaches
-legitimacy of “compromise solutions”
-coalition shortcomings (indigenous)
Recurrent issue of needing to find a common ground
Networks and collaboration evident in some cases
Friends of the Earth being structurally a networked organization
The Indigenous group being marginalized in a collaborative project
Chronology
Video showing testimonies of Friends of the Earth satellites in other countries.
Focus on climate change, vs. the organization
Speaker 1: divulging environmental impacts/statistics.
Flooding recurrent theme
Seems to be an informational dissemination project
Impacts on…
Africa: food
Flooding, impacts on agriculture
Asia: floods; losing land and food
Latin America
Women: burden on work as “food providers”
Travel for water; food production; caring for elderly and sick
Speaker 2: Indigenous Environmental Network (Jihana?)
Climate justice: policy criticism
Local context
Low income, color, indigenous, workers most affected.
Impacts on health, economic, social
Worked with
Environmental Climate Initiative for change
Environmental justice
movements having accountability mechanism
They “speak for themselves:”
grassroots level.
Elders personally experiencing
climate change
Left out of policy
discussions à bad policies against
indigenous communities
Oil coming from
“our land.”
Little/no government regulation on land, making it an attractive target for oil companies
Grassroots level seen as most effective conduit for solutions. If people are safe, all are safe.
Beginning to make positive change in “greener” industries for energy à jobs
USSF as forum to
change thought-processes and mentalities of
Understand colonization and each other à come to table with the same understanding
Speaker 3: Janet
IMF context; large-scale
International scale as structural impediment to climate justice
Personal hydroelectric “dams” vs. large dams.
G8: carbon-finance program. Replanting forests (timber-plantations). It’s a farce.
Problem in financial structure
Finance large-scale, profitable industries vs. small-scale “industries.”
World Bank as improper “target” for climate justice
Reform in increased green standards offset by higher extraction.
Keeping informed on legislation in order to implicitly “endorse.”
Speaker 4:
Climate justice about: holding governments accountable
Sierra Leone: a non-profit water-provider was beaten to death
Access to water fueling conflict.
IMF privatization of water
-this speaker handed
out a petition to senators and representatives to cancel the debt for
impoverished countries
Q&A:
This
network arising through conversations at an earlier conference.
Call for a need to
build movements
For coalitions, what
is missing is:
Common framework
and background. Shared ideals, without consideration for logistics of organization.
Need to “watchdog” the coalitions
Environment and development/litigation
should work together
Audience respondent
thinking that working through politics is pre-mature
First need to organize
Environmental groups are making
compromises
Disputes about whom is
to blame for environmental justice, and thus of strategies for change.
Macro-level source of finance, which
makes local activism ineffective
Panelist:
national-level approach to change. But
can do both, utilizing all strategies.
Audience: wanting a
solution and list of demands all can agree on (no coal, no development in
India, etc). Need positions that all can
agree with.
Sessions regarding
personal consumption as a source of environmental degradation neglected in
USSF.
Audience: one should
target conduits for easiest change, rather than attacking the large-scale,
grand sources of problems. It should be
a strategic movement by taking up feasible goals successively.
Must
resist capitalism and hierarchies in order to make room for ecologically-sound
industries. Civil disturbance
strategies.
Class,
Caste and Conflict in Nepal
Thurs, 1:00
Organization
Description
Nepal National Social Welfare Association (NNSWA) was
established in 1994 in Kanchanpur, in the Far Western Region of Nepal. NNSWA
was formed by members of the Dalit (untouchable) community with the goal of
striving towards an equitable society. The organization was inaugurated by then
American Ambassdor to Nepal, Julia Chang-Bloc and former Prime Minister of
Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba. NNSWA’s target groups include the poorest and most
oppressed members of Nepali society: Dalits (members of the “untouchable”
caste), Disabled and Deprived persons. From the beginning, NNSWA’s dedicated
and talented staff has worked to improve the educational, health, livelihood
and legal status of these target groups. Over the years, NNSWA has developed
successful partnerships with local NGOs as well as international NGOs including
Save the Children/US, Poverty Alleviation Fund, ActionAid Nepal, UNICEF, Hellen
Keller International, Family Health International, World Bank Nepal DFID and
Handicap International among others, to help improve our ability to meet our
goals. NNSWA has also expanded its operations into three additional districts
in the far west, making it one of the biggest NGOs in the region. NNSWA knows that
discrimination and oppression are prevalent in Nepali society, as they are
throughout the world, and we also believe that the only way to end these
problems is to tackle them indirectly by providing programs for the benefit of
the victims of oppression, and directly by advocating for legal and human
rights. We continue to look for ways to achieve our vision of an equitable
society, and we constantly strive to improve our programs in Education and
Early Childhood Development, HIV/AIDS, Adolescent Reproductive Health,
Nutrition, Women's Empowerment, and Advocacy.
Session
Description
Nepal is a country rife with discrimination
and oppression of various minority groups, including Dalits (members of the
“untouchable” caste), ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and women. Negative
cultural practices and the history of discrimination against these groups is
one of reasons not only for their poor educational, health and legal status,
but also for the high participation of these groups in the Maoist ‘Peoples War’
that held Nepal hostage for over 10 years. The links between poverty,
oppression and violence have long been noted, so it is not surprising that the
conflict in Nepal has been fueled by the existence of these problems among its
rural and minority peoples. Throughout the world, conflicts are driven by the
frustrations and grievances of people who have been exploited and deprived, and
it is important to share our stories and strategies for fighting poverty and
oppression if we ever want to attain a world of peace.
NNSWA has 15 years of experience working with the
most deprived and disadvantaged members of Nepali society. We have developed
several successful programs to help elevate and empower these oppressed groups
and help them find alternatives to conflict. At NNSWA, we believe that peaceful
revolution is not only possible, it is the only means
of achieving true, lasting social change. We propose to share our experiences
of working for positive social change in the hopes of learning from and
contributing to a community of learners at the United States Social Forum. We
will share success stories of communities and individuals our organization has
worked with, as well as strategies for developing programs which foster
positive social change. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions and
contribute suggestions for the improvement of our efforts to fight oppression,
poverty and conflict.
*I was not taking notes and arrived very late
General Observations
The panelists were representatives of an NGO in Nepal, speaking of the political turmoil in Nepal (infusion of Maoists and its effects on power-relations between “castes”)
The panelists used the Forum for the purpose of consciousness-raising
Explicitly stated that there were hopes for more attendees to their session to aid them in their cause
Aim of raising awareness to Americans, who can then petition the government (USA) to address the situation in Nepal.
The Coalition of
Immokalee Workers: Fighting for Fair Food
2. Date: 6/28/07
Organization
Description
The CIW is a community-based worker organization. Our
members are largely Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in
low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. We strive to build our strength
as a community on a basis of reflection and analysis, constant attention to
coalition building across ethnic divisions, and an ongoing investment in
leadership development to help our members continually develop their skills in
community education and organization. From this basis we fight for, among other
things: a fair wage for the work we do, more respect on the part of our bosses
and the industries where we work, better and cheaper housing, stronger laws and
stronger enforcement against those who would violate workers' rights, the right
to organize on our jobs without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured
servitude in the fields.
Session
Description
In March 2005, after a four-year national
boycott and amidst growing pressure from students, churches, and communities
throughout the country, fast-food giant Taco Bell agreed to meet all of our
demands to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers in
its supply chain. This precedent-setting victory now gives us a strong
foundation for pursuing deeper change throughout the entire $100 billion
fast-food industry and, in turn, the Florida agricultural industry.
Over the past several years, through campaigns
like the boycott and our anti-slavery work, Immokalee has evolved from being
one of the poorest, most politically powerless communities in the country to
become today a new and important public presence with forceful, committed
leadership directly from the base of our community -- young, immigrant workers
forging a future of livable wages and modern labor relations in Florida's
fields.
This participatory, multimedia, English/Spanish
session will explore the history and organizing methods of the CIW, paying
particular attention to the Campaign for Fair Food, including recent
developments in the CIW-led nationwide movement to hold McDonald's accountable
for the sweatshop wages and working conditions in its tomato supply chain.
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 35. About 20 more trickling in
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
English, Spanish, Korean translator
Diverse spectrum, well proportioned and about equally gender-represented
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
Coalition of Immokalee workers
Observations
An informative session on the Coalition of Immokalee workers.
Coalitions not explicitly created at the USSF
Primary functions of inspiration and providing testimony of a successful strategy
No competing ideas btw or w/in audience and panel
Networks as key to social change
Religious community, students
Strategy for this
movement
Primarily education and consciousness-raising (ex. tours)
Higher wages were not attained from the farm-owners, but rather from Taco-Bell directly.
Get the same base pay from the farm-owners, while Taco Bell gives the workers a separate check for the tomatoes that it purchases from the farm.
-a novel approach to handle wage-issues by bypassing parts of the hierarchy
Chronology
Exercise: think of a tomato, what do you think? (audience participation)
2nd exercise: who has heard of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers? When?
Taco Bell boycott, newspaper articles on the treatment of workers
Description of a typical day; testimonial from a couple farmworkers:
Wake about 4 to make lunch and go to work
Go to a parking lot and look for work. Taken to fields 7 – 8ish.
Work with a bucket; 32lbs when full, carrying over shoulders in hot sun.
Crouching, picking.
$15 day, 125 buckets; 2 tons of tomatoes, 4,000lbs.
not enough to feed, house, and send
home. 10 – 12 living in a trailer
incidence of slavery; workers held
against their will
forced to work in one place.
African Americans, other people.
6 cases of slavery taken to court
when 1st started, asked boss for better wages
did a lot of actions: works, strikes, hunger-strikes… no avail because too many causes of shit.
big corporations buying these tomatoes (Taco Bell).
Boycott for 4 years.
Coalition of Immokalee Workers conducting tours. Finally won court victory in 2005.
22 incidences where students prevented Taco Bell from opening in their schools.
Student Workers Alliance
Coalitions of faith
communities, schools, community,
Media not a useful
conduit; ex. Viacom owned a billboard and prevented advertisement
Allicance of Prepared Food: committing to work with the CIW to work with companies to ensure purchase of non-exploitation food.
-food consciousness; question where one’s attained food.
Sustainable food movement
More audience participation: what do people think are qualities of “sustainable food?”
Organic, humane treatment of animals, environmental
Many times people would pay more for these products (organic, animal treatment), but no alternatives for human rights; the farmers that produce the food that we eat.
à need to raise consciousness and human rights
fast food, why people go
cost, (school or work, not much time).
Initial demand: 1cent more per pound of tomatoes. Cost not passed down to consumer
Try to get McDonald’s to sign a contract with growers, workers, and purchasers on one table.
Try to make a code-of-conduct that is industry-wide.
May, brother organizations of Taco Bell joined the organization
Today there’s McDonalds, Pizza Hut, A&W, KFC, Long John Silvers, … (6 big fast-food industries) that buy from these farms
Recompense to workers coming from a separate check from Taco Bell
Video
History: a 17yo got beaten for drinking water.
à boycott; Coalition of Immokalee Workers formed
beginning consumer boycott of Taco Bell
rallies, students (Boot the Bell). 2005 won; then heading toward for McDonalds
McDonalds formed SAFE (additional certification) from growers
11 suppliers stopped selling to these companies.
Shareholders got ability to vote for McDonald’s paying more farm workers
à pay more than 75 cents more per bucket
Burger king, next
Q&A
Snowball effect; powerful corporations that sign agreements lead to other codes of conduct for other corporations to follow suit.
Starting with
tomatoes, cause it’s kind of the bottom of priorities. Ripple effect toward other
crops. It’s a beginning, a
precedent
Never before has a union effectively
attacked a fast food industry
Popular education as a
strategy; a strategy found in Latin America and Carribean.
Community
consciousness-raising. Weekly meetings.
Training for Justice: Connecting the Dots between Local and
International Struggles.
June 29, 2007 - 10:30a
Organization
Description
The primary submitter is 50 Years Is Enough: U.S.
Network for Global Economic Justice, a coalition of over 200 U.S. grassroots,
women's, solidarity, faith-based, policy, social- and economic-justice, youth,
labor and development organizations dedicated to the profound transformation of
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Network works in
solidarity with over 185 international partner organizations in more than 65
countries. Through education and action, the Network is committed to
transforming the international financial institutions' policies and practices,
to ending the outside imposition of neo-liberal economic programs, and to
making the development process democratic and accountable. We were founded in
1994, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the World Bank
and IMF. We focus on action-oriented economic literacy training, public
mobilization, and policy advocacy. While 50 Years Is Enough
is the primary submitter of this workshop, this event is part of the Justice
Project Collaborative--a collaboration of trainers representing numerous
organizations including Books Not Bombs, TransAfrica, Global Justice and the
Student Global Aids Campaign. A note on proposal demographics: I checked all of
these off because among the four presenters we have lined up,
at least one is part of each of these categories. However, not all are part of
all of these.
Proposal
Demographics
identify as
women
identify as
LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gendered, queer)
identify as
people of color
are 25
years old or younger
are
immigrants (not born in U.S.)
Session
Description
The U.S. is the world’s predominant military
and economic power, and change in this country must precede meaningful change
globally. This creates a special role and responsibility for social justice
organizers in the U.S., and places critical importance on organizing with a
global analysis and understanding of the impacts of U.S. foreign policy. This
4-hour, popular education training is meant not only as an economic literacy
workshop, but as a way to help achieve the greater goal of building and
strengthening the U.S global justice movement.
We realize that one of the biggest challenges
of the global justice movement has been that too often we have failed to
recognize that people in the United States are not exempt from the ravages of
the global economic system. The training will focus on connecting the dots
between these struggles, and will address the following questions:
• What kind of policies does the U.S. promote
internationally?
• What is the link between
these economic policies and war, disease, and development?
• How are
these policies different or similar to what national and local governments do
right here at home?
• What are some of the alternatives being articulated
and implemented by movements in the Global South and here in the US?
• What
do will the next generation of the global justice movement look like?
Using games, role-plays, and small group
discussion, this training seeks to move beyond issue-based campaigning, and
help engender a greater understanding and consciousness of global justice
issues among those already engaged in organizing work.
This activity will be conducted in English. We
hope to have oral interpreters available, but will not be able to provide
headsets and transmitters. We will have popular education materials available.
The majority of them will be in English, though some
will also be available is Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Proposing
Organization
50 Years Is Enough Network, The
Justice Project
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 65
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
Diverse; primarily white and black but with others. Age spectrum represented in good proportion.
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
black, white, south asian, 1:1 male:female ratio
General Observations
This session was used to refine the pedagogy of The Justice Project.
TJP is an organization aiming to educate [high school-age students*?] about social problems.
It replicated what they would have done in the high school setting and asked for feedback
-panelists using the USSF for feedback for its organizations’ pedagogy.
No networking, no collective strategy, just self-serving refinement of TJP’s operations
-the audience generally did not mind the relative lack of discussion on social issues and prospective solutions
-got caught in the games and found them entertaining
-there were a few voices at the end, however, that alluded to the lack of “substance” in this session
Brief Chronology
Jeopardy-type setup
Introducing the issues; review of global issues
History, Institutions, Philosophy, Programs
Ex. Coca Cola (illegal chemicals, Colombian death-squads), WTO and its role in sustaining equality and enforcing unfair trade agreements, immigration issues.
Competitive atmosphere fostering a lively, jubilant crowd with a good humor.
Well-knowledged crowd who are aware of the gamut of issues at hand.
-to start us thinking about the global equality issues. Engagement to incite stimulation.
“tell us what we want to change?”
-talking on the merits and pitfalls of this kind of presentation
-something of a self-serving exercise that detracts from the issues.
Game 2: “Trade for your life.”
Role-play:
Groups playing delegates from US, China, and Ghana-ian economic representatives, Ghanian farmer, Chinese factory owner, etc.
Purpose to lay out a platform for trade
-role-play demonstrating the politicks of creating the best trade conditions for the self.
Resolution: difficult to come to any decisive conclusions given the diverse interests involved
Justice
in the Global Economy: International Solidarity Against
Free Trade / For Fair Trade
June 29, 2007 - 1:00pm
Organization
Description
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of 54 national and
international labor unions. We represent more than 10 million workers across
the United States. The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of
working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice
to our nation. To accomplish this mission we will build and change the American
labor movement. We will build a broad movement of American workers by
organizing workers into unions. We will recruit and train the next generation
of organizers, mass the resources needed to organize and create the strategies
to win organizing campaigns and union contracts. We will create a broad
understanding of the need to organize among our members, our leadership and
among unorganized workers. We will lead the labor movement in these efforts. We
will build a strong political voice for workers in our nation. We will fight
for an agenda for working families at all levels of government. We will empower
state federations. We will build a broad progressive coalition that speaks out
for social and economic justice. We will create a political force within the
labor movement that will empower workers and speak forcefully on the public
issues that affect our lives. We will change our unions to provide a new voice
to workers in a changing economy. We will speak for working people in the
global economy, in the industries in which we are employed, in the firms where
we work, and on the job every day. We will transform the role of the union from
an organization that focuses on a member's contract to one that gives workers a
say in all the decisions that affect our working lives—from capital
investments, to the quality of our products and services, to how we organize
our work. We will change our labor movement by creating a new voice for workers
in our communities. We will make the voices of working families heard across
our nation and in our neighborhoods. We will create vibrant community labor
councils that reach out to workers at the local level. We will strengthen the
ties of labor to our allies. We will speak out in effective and creative ways
on behalf of all working Americans.
Proposal
Demographics
identify as
women
identify as
people of color
Session
Description
The workshop will include workers from around
the world to disucss the potential impact of free trade agreements on working
people and building international solidarity to fight neoliberal trade
agreements and to propose fair economic alternatives. We will invite
representatives from the US (AFL-CIO), Korea and Colombia with experience in
national and international trade campaigns to engage with audience members on
analyzing trade policy and building grass roots and international social
movements.
The workshop will be in English and Spanish. The will
have available factsheets, postcards and other media. The workshop connects to
the USSF theme of worker rights. Participants will be asked to strategize about
building resistance to proposed free trade agreements, and participating in those
campaigns at the local, national and international level.
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: ~70 – 80
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
Diverse, yet a slightly disproportionate representation of whites: a section devoted to Spanish speakers. 1 asian. Slight majority of males.
English, Spanish, Portuguese
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
CGT: female. Expert on globalization, migration. France
Gustavos ***: COOT* Brazil (largest labor union)
International Secretary of the MWF of the CGIL*. Italy. Federation of Metal Workers
De Silva: 2nd largest union? Force de Senecal*. Brazil
Labor lawyer by training. ITUC. Represents the AFL-CIO. American
Observations
Primarily informative re: previous collaboration between unions for the North/South American unions; as well as on immigrant issues in the European unions.
-secondarily prescriptive, painting broad strokes and vague strategies
Brazil: a call to continue to work together for an implicit Pan Americanism.
Europe: be mindful of immigrant issues
Seemingly artificially amicable and diplomatic.
No conflicts between the involved parties were noted
-networks/coalitions have been formed previously between the AFL-CIO and the Brazilian unions. Due to this, it is likely that the speech was political and diplomatic with no taste of conflict
Chronology
Introductory remarks
Re: immigration: council resolution. AFL-CIO concluded that
System was victimizing the victims
Need pro-worker, pro immigrant union
Immigrant workers should have a right to vindicate their labor rights
Should use cooperation between countries, rather than coercion.
Must have a whole system of sustainable agriculture.
Worst of times: globalization harming workers
Best: unprecedented
unity; international confederation of ***.
Linking what had been independent unions
Gustavo
AFL-CIO had a big part in organizing the Seattle protest
à brought a framework to help the WSF
2 things
FTAA
as result of labor unions working together.
Phrased
not just as resistance against conservative tendencies.
Creating a vision of how trade and
work should work between countries
Unionism should work
with social movements and communities
MWF / CGIL (difficult
to understand)
Speaking on Italian tradition of migration/immigration.
Victims of immigration; how should unions deal with such?
Italian law: they are illegal.
In order to become legal, must have and fulfill a legal contract. When the contract is nullified, the legalization is nullified*.
Solutions:
Organization: give conduit for migrants for addressing their concerns
Collective bargaining: equal rights; even people under different conditions should have rights.
Italy’s conduits for collective bargaining
Italian labor law incorporates:
National contract for all sectors
Corporate agreements
Main tool is the national contract
Demands:
accidents and protection; migrant labor more prone to have dangerous jobs
1 victory: immigrants get the same pay and conditions of native Italians.
Things to fight against
Brazil
Seeing Social Forums as bringing global solidarity.
Been to all of the WSFs.
At 1st Xecal* was only an economic bloc
But created a separate sub-group for worker rights
1 thing to develop is
free transport without need for a passport.
Big task is to develop a
constitution of basic worker rights.
Governments do not want this.
Xecal and AFL-CIO
worked out a protocol for basic labor rights.
Next step: determine how many
immigrant workers (esp Brazilian) there are in the
United States.
Seeking
to work further with AFL-CIO for worker rights.
The world is all of
ours. No need for borders
(APPLAUSE)
We really believe that
the root of things, the way to solve these immigration problems is to foster
sustainable industries at the home country.
Belief that with solidarity, will honestly make another world possible.
CGT
New division of labor (NS, EW) creating new problems for unions
France has history of importing labor
Immigrants used as scapegoats.
***description of “exotic labor”
EU is proposing contracts with Africa, Pacific, and Carribean, which, if passed, would lead to catastrophic effects.
Allow for dumping
Unions discussing; considering migration initiatives and immigration labor rights.
Need cooperation btw receivers and deliverers of migrants.
Sweatshops
& sweatshops in the fields: What can you do about it?
June 29, 2007 - 3:30pm
Organization
Description
International Labor Rights Fund ILRF is an advocacy
organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers
worldwide. ILRF serves a unique role among human rights organizations as
advocates for and with working poor around the world. We believe that all
workers have the right to a safe working environment where they are treated
with dignity and respect, and where they can organize freely to defend and
promote their rights and interests. We are committed to overcoming the problems
of child labor, forced labor, and other abusive labor practices. We promote
enforcement of labor rights internationally through public education and mobilization,
research, litigation, legislation, and collaboration with labor, government and
business groups. STITCH Women in Central America and the U.S. face similar
challenges in the workplace, especially when it comes to low wages,
discrimination, insufficient childcare services and dangerous working
conditions. To change these shared conditions, STITCH, founded in 1998, unites
Central American and U.S. women workers to exchange strategies on how to fight
for economic justice in the workplace. STITCH equips women with the essential
skills through trainings and educational tools, and in the process, builds
lasting relationships with women across the two regions, further empowering
women in the labor movement. STITCH also ensures women's voices are heard in global
debates and discussions on issues that impact them: globalization, trade
agreements, immigration policy, and global labor standards. U.S.LEAP The
U.S.Labor Education in the Americas Project (U.S.LEAP) works to support the
basic rights of workers in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico,
especially those who are employed directly or indirectly by U.S. companies.
Founded in 1987 as the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (U.S./GLEP) by
trade unionists and human rights advocates concerned about the basic rights of
Guatemalan workers, USLEAP has since expanded its work to other countries in
the region. SweatFree Communities SweatFree Communities was founded in 2003 by
anti-sweatshop organizers in Maine, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin and elsewhere
who had been working separately on local campaigns to convince school
districts, cities, states, and other institutional purchasers to adopt
“sweatfree” purchasing policies and stop tax dollars from subsidizing
sweatshops and abusive child labor. SweatFree Communities created a structure
to facilitate the sharing of resources and information and built a national
sweatfree movement that has the unity and political strength to generate
significant market demand for products that are made in humane conditions by
workers who earn living wages.
Proposal
Demographics
identify as
women
are 25
years old or younger
Session
Description
Sweatshops & sweatshops in the fields:
What can you do about it?
This workshop will focus on workers’ rights in
global supply chains for manufactured and agricultural products. As Americans,
we are actively engaged in supporting global supply chains and it’s up to us to
be conscientious consumers. This workshop will examine some of the key issues
connected to workers’ rights throughout supply chains of various products such
as bananas and garments. If we as consumers continue to expect and demand low
prices, labor rights will continue to deteriorate in the US and around the
world as suppliers are forced to cut costs. This workshop will also include a
dialogue and brainstorm about how we can use our buying power to promote
companies that have respect for workers. This dialogue will focus on what
localities and states have done to pass policies regulating government
procurement of apparel for things like police uniforms.
There will also be an in depth focus on how
global supply chains connect to women’s issues and immigration because it is
often women that struggle in their home countries and then come to the US
looking for economic stability only to then be thrown into the US economy that
further discriminates against them.
Presenters include:
- Beth Myers, STITCH
(immigration and women)
- Trina Tocco, International Labor Rights Fund
(garments)
- Charity Ryerson, USLEAP (bananas & cut flowers)
-
Liana Foxvog, SweatFree Communities (local government policies)
This workshop will provide simultaneous English to
Spanish translation though we will not have equipment but rather whispering in
the back of the room. Various groups will provide handouts and there will be
some literature available in Spanish.
4. Estimated number of attendees: 35
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
slightly female-dominant. Almost exclusively white except 2 black, 2 asian. Primarily a younger crowd.
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
homogenously young, white females. All but one came across as nervous and disorganized
Presenters include:
- Beth Myers, STITCH
(immigration and women)
- Trina Tocco, International Labor Rights Fund
(garments)
- Charity Ryerson, USLEAP (bananas & cut flowers)
-
Liana Foxvog, SweatFree Communities (local government policies)
Observations
Descriptive; not prescriptive.
Describing simplistic, common-knowledge issues primarily rather than posing solutions to the problems, strategies, historical success stories, etc.
Chronology:
Background: the global-supply chain.
People involved in the steps: farms, manufacturing/processing, etc.
Oversimplified description of power relationship of whom has power over whom.
-admitted that goal is to frame movement to empower the workers.
Vague description of organizational work
Help workers in Guatemala, particularly for women
-Flower industry
Immigrant rights
Personal stories
How people “fight sweatshops.”
Dole plantation
“strong union” involved in the producers of the Dole flower company.
Unions formed in response to pesticides and chemicals
Dole “not budging”
International organizations becoming involved.
Strategy:
Brands: short discussion
Wal-Mart: listing of figures
Demands:
Costs of production should reflect the costs of the product
Long-term contracts for employment
Price should reflect the living wage
Legal approach to end sweatshops
6 states with sweat-free laws
-however, difficult to monitor and translate to active practice
student anti-sweatshop groups pushing for enforcement mechanisms
-independent monitors
Break into groups for Q&A
What are strategies for addressing this issue?
Local coalitions
Schools making demands/raising consciousness
NGO meetings with politicians
Schools pressuring politicians
USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops)
Compiling lists of producers/distributors that use sweatshops
Educate communities
Ideally a good strategy would be to get a company to negotiate with the government that houses the workers
Attempt to get government protection for workers
Connecting
Environmental Justice Movements
June 30, 2007 - 10:30am
Organization
Description
Climate Justice Chicago: People Reversing Global
Warming is a multi-issue, multi-racial, multi-ethnic grassroots coalition
dedicated to reversing global warming through a radical change in both the
perception and definition of the problem, and prescriptions for action. In
light of the urgent need to create a climate-safe planet, we have a common
agreement about the need to initiate immediate local action in the following
areas of daily living: - Environmental justice: anti-racism and ending class
privilege - Local food and food security - Green collar jobs and worker rights
- Zero waste manufacturing - Mass transit: building a cars-are-optional future
- Renewable energy: carbon-free and nuclear-free - Green building, energy
conservation and efficiency
Proposal
Demographics
identify as
women
identify as
LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gendered, queer)
identify as
people of color
Session
Description
We will create a space to connect with others
who are integrating environmental work with a justice agenda, to talk about our
movements, best practices, and setbacks, and where we can strategize together
with allies in the environmental justice movement.
Creating a just and livable future for all
will require that we move beyond techno-fixes; that we embrace systemic change,
create sustainable economies and justly allocate resources; and that we take
action to address the environmental problems in our communities and our world.
Climate Justice Chicago is a grassroots coalition of organizers, activists and
NGOs, from a variety of areas of work, dedicated to reversing global warming.
We focus on:
- Environmental justice: anti-racism and ending class
privilege
- Local food and food security
- Green collar jobs and
worker rights
- Zero waste manufacturing
- Mass transit: building a
cars-are-optional future
- Renewable energy: carbon-free and
nuclear-free
- Green building, energy conservation and efficiency
Language: English
Interpretation: No. (We are unable to provide
it, but would like to -- contact us if you'd like to collaborate on this.)
Handouts: Yes (English and Spanish)
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 40
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
diverse crowd; even distribution btw age, race, hygiene. English
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
Just Transition Alliance
Little Village Environmental Chicago
Communities for a Better Environment
React for Environmental Justice in Harlem
4 black, 1 latino, 1 white: 1 black male, white male, the rest female
Observations
Session geared to pointing out successes of the environmental groups on the panel
Not “Environmentalism 101”
Openings made for cross-organization collaboration, to be continued in a follow-up session.
Panelists almost exclusively working at the grassroots level. Working with less affluent communities, with limited resources (funding). All but 1 black.
Direct work with communities, vs. with the larger system in which it is embedded
Tension with an audience-member with a more top-down approach to justice.
-bringing up issues of race, class, strategy, alluding to divisions within the movement
-previous collaboration with top-down, wealthier groups (Sierra Club) led to being “shat on”
Point out that labor and environmentalism can be reconciled
Creating “green jobs.”
Collaboration noted to be largely with grassroots and community unions (not national unions)
Actual attempts made to unite the participant organizations (see next session)
Chronology
Conglomerate of activists; different approaches to reform
Just Transition Alliance
Started with Oil
Working with workers and communities
Context of poor people, workers that this organization works with/for
Inception; a lot of education that had to be disseminated
Stereotypes that had to be surmounted, understanding each persons’ point of view.
Unions around the area. Mixed degrees of cooperation
Micro level
Concern regarding what happens during transitional phases (as industries/communities move toward “greener” solutions/jobs/cultures? Moving toward climate justice; altering coal refinery; what happens to income, healthcare, etc.
Accounting for restitution for lost jobs
Transportation Justice: new, affordable ways for public transit
Climate Justice in Chicago
Climate justice: primarily environmental?
International finance, globalization as factors in environmental justice game.
Advocate replacing coal power-plants with “green energy campuses”
-Energy efficiency, renewables (solar power, wind), fighting “safe nuclear energy.”
Real issue/solution: toward doubling public-transit (which creates jobs)
The environmental
movement doesn’t take jobs away; energy efficiency creates jobs
CBE
Richmond-based (impoverished; mostly black, latino, and immigrants)
City of Chevron (refinery); because many jobs stem from it
Elected a “green” mayor
Did not take campaign money from Chevron; open with disgust with Chevron
CBE sitting down and talking to mayor
Foundation created to consider health (many residents w/o health care)
Another city: Rodeo (Conco-Phillips* refinery)
City not as receptive. Need help from outside to educate
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (since 1991)
2nd most segregated state in country; 2nd to LA in minorities living in pollution
87% of pollutants in Detroit
Dilemma re: running out of landfills, proposal for incinerator (to be built with Phillip Morris)
AFSCME against, and Building Trades (white, middle class organization) fighting for incinerator
City ordinance against roadside recycling
County looking at global warming; org. working with, even though they are not talking with the city of Detroit
Proposal for nuclear plant (their 3rd)
Developed group for Environmental Justice
Energy efficiency, clean technology, green stuff
Kicking out 3 month training on how to work toward EJ.
React for EJ Harlem and Washington Heights
Working
personally, within communities; 1 on 1 on how to build change.
Educating on energy star rating on AC; planting a tree, fluorescent bulbs
Educating communities how
environmental issues affect the person (asthma); how the people personally can
relate to it.
“Quick hit” solutions not their personal approach.
Developing
training on planning actions.
Diesel Leadership Council created; how to organize and hold people accountable for their actions.
Building a relationship with transportation workers union
Need more public transit
Pushing for less fossil-fuel based shit.
Pesticides; as the globe warms, more danger of insects and disease
Connections btw pesticides and low birth rate, etc.
From tar beach to green roofs (grass on roofs)
-cools the building à decrease reliance on AC
Working to restore an abandoned building to be green
Contracts
with 2 schools to have green roofs.
Section
in Harlem that are working toward having green roofs.
Transforming
communities without waiting for “those in power” is the way that we will, not
only mitigate climate change, but …
Q&A
Part of problem is educating the naysayers and upper-middle class who vote for non-environmentally-friendly initiatives.
Another part of problem is the salience of the problem for the communities at hand. Ex. Violence may be much more salient than environmentalism
Re: solution “getting trained in solar in Chicago.” Where in Chicago can one get trained? How can training be done when people need to feed their families? etc
Community colleges West Side tech
Proposal in govt to have all community colleges get education on solar energy
White, older,
wealthier audience member arguing that economic framework/consideration should
be utilized to create demand for environmental concerns. Not doing enough macro-work.
Panelist: priviledged position. Speaking about how this white woman has
access to resources that others don’t have.
Limited funds.
Audience: middle-class privileged
groups need be in collaboration with the local communities
Panelist: have attempted to work
with the Sierra Club and other resourced organizations and have been used and
shit on (very, very heated)
Point-system for carbon trading; problems associated.
Anti-capitalist response; whom does it benefit?
Also, this approach leads to making money for others. Reinforces culture of money.
Asking audience to point out organizational challenges. List created
White privilege / class privilege
Connecting local issues w/ broader climate change
Organizing around carbon trading
Large environmental groups as coopting the movements
High cost of “just transition” (moving toward “greener” jobs)
Expanding and sustaining the organization; funding
Finding common agenda
Worker-owned cooperatives should be formed
Culture of consumption
Momentum behind compromise solutions
Connecting
Environmental Justice Movements 2: Local Organizing Building to National Power
-not on program
2. Date: 6/30/07
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 35ish; nearly all members of NGOs; primarily environmental
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
Representatives of all age demographics, but slightly disproportionately representing 20s – 30s.
Primarily white; equal distribution btw males:females
Observations
Session geared toward collaborative work
-break into groups by region to address organizational goals, needs, and opportunities for future collaboration
-Forum used as a networking resource
One group (North East), actually used the time to plan collaborative activities.
-the other two regions did not seem to use this session for its intended purpose (save for the creation of a list-serve)
Groups admitted their obstacles toward collaboration
-a representative from a wealthier group admitted guilt for cooptation of smaller movements
-grassroots groups finding little room for collaboration
each has goals that are very specific and localized, making collaborative action toward a common aim difficult.
Chronology
Science greatly willing to help out with environmental movement
-not necessarily what the movement needs. Does not work directly with the communities.
Conglomerate regions/organizations represented.
Idea to actually link potential networks by region
Personalize the struggles, rather than large forum-type proseletyzing
Challenges of local
campaigns (a list created in advance)
Literacy and organizing
Connecting knowledge and action
Broadening support for campaign
Mixed messages some environmental organizations are making to communities
“clean coal”
competition btw communities and groups
funding going to “larger” environmental groups
“conservative” groups that work within the political system.
People of color underrepresented
Alliance with labor
taking on popular issues (vs. direct concerns)
not directly taking into account the voices of those concerned
Group work divided btw regions. 3 questions to address:
1. what do you work on?
2. What are movement needs?
3. What are potential collaborative activities
a. Brainstorm, then prioritize
West group (creating lists of how we, as a group, addressed the 3 above questions)
Primarily smaller environmental organizations
1 representative admitting guilt for coopting other environmental organizations.
Large environmental organization
Here to actually work with smaller organizations
Needs
Data on local pollutants/polluters
Principles of collaboration
Do people contribute to each other’s work to collectively move forward.
Groups getting broader support without stymieing the smaller
Raising profile as a unified movement
Don’t undermine each other’s work
Better communication between movements, as local campaigns can just outsource to other communities
Collaborate, form a regional exchange
Share successful models
Come up with a regional vision
Work beyond the environmental justice movement
Creating more networks. What are supplemental networks that can be formed outside of EJ movements to increase power
Who else is working on these issues
Link btw scientific communities and their contribution to the movement
Question: what are the merits of national list-serves?
Awareness
Opportunities for Collaboration
Announcing a regional climate convergence in WA
What are the shared goals that people can work together toward?
A lot of big, lofty
talking, but no concrete plans made, save for the need for information sharing
and list-serves
Wrap-up (bringing the groups back together to report)
Commitment to stay together
Shared resources/emails with one another
EJCC (training materials); CCC (Climate Crisis Coalition) information resource
Brought to our attention that the USSF offered us to compile a Resolution for the Climate Justice Group. To be compiled by 7.
As of 5:30, nothing has been established
Asked whether anyone would volunteer to put this together (no hands)
-a little indicative of the disorganization of the forum participants. And of the Forum as a salient unifier of groups.
-in the final minutes of the session, a Resolution was worked on, using the Environmental Justice principles as a baseline.
-audience members voiced concerns on the wording of certain principles and stayed around when the session ended to fashion the “Resolution”
North East report: 2 collaborative convergences formed
Commitments to further collaborative work as follows:
To re-convene at the Climate Change Camp in New Orleans
Attend inauguration protests
Commitment to create regional networks regarding basic needs
Health care, food
Clearinghouse to present issues and accomplishments to see peoples’ stuff in one
East coast education tour
-personally surprised to hear that this group actually “committed” to future collaborative work, specifying events and dates.
-I attained a follow-up form (UCR’s 2nd phase of the project) from the spokesperson of this group to see if these commitments were actually carried out.
An
Intimate Discussion on Darfur
-not on program.
-I missed the first half-hour
Saturday: 1:00
Demographics
4. Estimated number of attendees: 20ish – trickle ins/outs
5. Describe the composition of attendees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, languages used, etc.
Attendees almost exclusively over 30 years of age. Evenly distributed between 30yo and 60. 70% black, 30% white, one Asian (myself).
A few born in various African countries (1 from South Africa – who was also white – another Kenya…)
6. Describe panelists: name, organizational affiliation, country, etc.
A female from Africa Action as a moderator
Observations
Exclusively discussion-format. Moderator collecting attendees’ opinions regarding Darfur and related issues and playing “devil’s advocate.”
-something of a stream-of-consciousness discussion
The Africa Tent was the last along the strip leading to the food/cultural/merchandise section. Relatedly, the Indigenous tent was even further from the Civic Center, resting as a satellite perhaps 150 – 250 feet from the food/cultural/merchandise section. It is as if to say that these marginalized groups were physically marginalized at the USSF.
Furthermore, the Africa Tent had a stage as a neighbor, hosting a couple of raucous punk/ska bands during the Darfur discussion. It obstructed the session in terms of audibility and also legitimacy; audience members felt free to have conversations over the speakers and mosey around/in/out the tent at whim.
Chronology/Opinions
Darfur not a problem of ethnic hatred; groups have historically lived side-by-side in peace
-imperialism as root of the problem
-diverse interests involved: China, oil, Zionism
-globalization, competition for resources fueling ethnic conflict
PanAfricanism as a solution
Africa Action promoting UN intervention
NOT US intervention
-Somalia debacle noted as justification for this position
-reminder: Congo and the assassination of Lumumba
However, let us not discount successes such as Liberia and Sierra Leone
Kenyan’s opinion
-internal solutions should be sought; Kenya routinely helps surrounding countries
-international interventions go sour
-African Union as Solution
American looking up to Mugabe as a hero
-redistributes, and protects resources
South African: pointing out merits of international intervention
PAP: African Parliament emerged from the West
NIPAD: African development institution
-also, be skeptical of how PanAfricanism is framed; who is defining it?
The only country that consistently came to the aid of Africa: Cuba
White woman: following the Rwandan genocide, visited Rwanda
question that she consistently received was “where were you?”