Fight Back! interviewed Venezuelan trade union leader Jacobo Torres de Leon, the international coordinator for the Bolivarian Socialist Council of Workers at the Workers’ Summit of the Americas which took place June 10-12 in Tijuana, Mexico.
Fight Back! interviews Josh Higginbotham, Organizer and Director of Research and Development for Black Lives Matter-Oklahoma City, at the Workers’ Summit of the Americas which took place June 10-12 in Tijuana, Mexico.Fight Back!: Why are you here?
Fight Back! interviewed William Camacaro, one of the coordinators of the important Workers’ Summit of the Americas which takes place on June 10-12 in Tijuana, Mexico.Fight Back!: How was this Workers’ Summit of Las Americas started?
Minneapolis, MN – 25 community members and organizers entered Mayor Jacob Frey’s office, June 6, to demand that the city stop stifling the East Phillips neighborhood’s efforts to build a community-owned sustainable urban farm on the site of an unused Roofing Depot plant in their neighborhood. The coalition was led by the Climate Justice Committee and the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI).
Chicago, IL – Teaching artists and school office staff at Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) have voted to join the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), June 3. Three office staff voted to join the union, and later in the day, part-time arts teachers – who make up the backbone of the school’s programs in the visual arts, music, theater, dance and creative writing conservatories voted 75% (41 yes to 14 no ) to join the union.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 1, 40 people stood holding signs that read, “No troops! No drones! U.S. hands off Somalia!” and “Troops home now!” on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Tampa, FL – Over 50 Tampa community members attended their city council meeting May 26 to demand immediate action to address the housing crisis. People’s Council Tampa and Florida Rising mobilized to demand more funding for rental assistance, right to counsel for tenants, a landlord registry, and an office of tenant advocacy that would help tenants with legal issues around their leases or landlord.
St. Paul, MN – On May 26 at 9:45 a.m., more than 420 Planned Parenthood staff across the five-state North Central States Region of Planned Parenthood filed union cards with the NLRB signed by a majority of their coworkers seeking a union election to become members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa.
Appleton, WI – On Saturday, May 21, the family of Jimmie Sanders – a man murdered by Appleton police in May 2017 – alongside Fox Valley Food Not Bombs, Appleton SDS, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and United Action Oshkosh organized a rally and march to bring attention to the case, and to crowdfund for the Jimmie Sanders legal team.
Minneapolis, MN – At 6 a.m. Tuesday, May 24, mental health workers at three Minneapolis area hospitals walked off the job and went on a one-day strike. All three groups of workers organized and formed unions with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU HCMN&IA) since September of 2021. Now they are fighting for their first contracts. They decided to do a joint one-day strike to show management that they are serious and united and will fight to win real improvements in their first union contract.
Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday May 24, over 500 mental health workers will walk off the jobs at three hospitals in the Minneapolis metro area. The striking groups include mental health coordinators and psych techs, along with other job classes that perform mental health work.
St. Paul, MN – On May 18, over two dozen people came out on a rainy afternoon to rally at the Army Corps of Engineers office in Downtown Saint Paul calling for an end to Line 3 oil pipeline. The event was part of the Climate Justice Committee's campaign to pressure the Army Corp of Engineers (ACoE) to do an Environmental Impact Survey on Line 3.
San José, CA – On May 16, about 50 students gathered at the Olympic Black Power Statue, at San José State University, to rally in defense of Roe v. Wade.
On Saturday, May 14, Masao Suzuki, chair of the Joint Nationalities Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) expressed outrage at another white supremacist mass murder. “Three years ago, white supremacist Patrick Crusius drove hundreds of miles to kill Chicanos and Mexicanos in El Paso, Texas,” said Suzuki. “Then today another young white supremacist, Payton Gendron, also drove into Buffalo, New York to attack the African American community.” Eleven of the 13 people Gendron shot were African American, and ten died.
Dallas TX, – On Wednesday, May 11 over 30 protesters, consisting of Filipinos and allies rallied at Main Street Garden Park in downtown Dallas to protest the recent victory of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (son of U.S.-allied dictator Ferdinand Marcos) and the election of Sara Duterte (daughter of current reactionary president Rodrigo Duterte) in the Philippines presidential elections.
New York, NY – Starting the morning of Monday, May 9, Filipinos and allies across the tri-state area began hosting a vigil outside of the Consulate General of the Philippines. They committed to stay until the results of a historic election were announced.
Los Angeles, CA – On May 3, several hundred people gathered for an emergency action at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in downtown LA to voice outrage at the draft majority opinion overturning the historic Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.