This happened in the U.S. The U.S. is no friend to Arab countries, or Arab Americans. The U.S. has a long history of war, occupations and bombings in Arab and predominantly Muslim countries, from backing the occupation of Palestine, to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the current bombing of Syria, to drone strikes in Yemen. The rich and powerful U.S. ruling class wants an empire of oppression and exploitation.

While the U.S. government creates conflict and endless wars overseas, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Department of Justice work overtime, spending billions to set up and jail Arab-Americans and Muslims. The government wants to make examples out of people, to create fear in society, and thus promote U.S. wars and occupations.

This is the case for Palestinian American Rasmea Odeh in Chicago. Like tens of thousands of others in occupied Palestine, she was locked up and tortured at an Israeli military prison. She later moved to the U.S. and built her life around community activism, winning awards for her service over 20 years. Like many others, she was targeted because she spoke out against U.S. wars and U.S. funding of Israel. Now Rasmea Odeh, at the age of 68, is threatened in U.S. court with 10 years in prison, fines and deportation. She faces sentencing in Detroit on March 12.

While the corporate media attempt to confuse the issue with talks of parking spaces, atheism and mental illness, we know why a white American gunned down peaceful Muslim students in a college town. The people in the U.S. are force-fed the ideas of Wall Street and the ruling class. Those who promote and conduct U.S wars are the same ones who teach people to fear and then hate Arab people and Muslims. It is also no surprise that these murders happened right after the release of the film, American Sniper. The film glorifies murder and the occupation of Iraq. It is also the widest released rated-R film of all time – it's been put in more theaters than any other film. Hollywood films and the corporate media promote ideas that incite violence and discrimination. They fuel and justify the actions of U.S. imperialism.

The murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill is a hate crime. We must unite against this. We must unite against the U.S. interventions in Syria and Iraq. We must unite against state repression of Arab Americans, Muslims and anti-war activists. Together, by building a mass movement, we can stop racist vigilante violence, police murders, war and repression.

Along with their families and the 5000 who attended their funerals, we mourn the deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakat, a 23-year-old University of North Carolina dental student married to 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad, and also her 19-year-old sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

#ChapelHillNC #ChapelHillShooting #DeahShaddyBarakat #RazanMohammadAbuSalha #YusorMohammad

Chapel Hill, NC – A diverse group of over 120 students braved heavy rains to rally on UNC Chapel Hill's campus, Sept. 21, in protest of the scheduled execution of [Troy Davis](/tags/troy-davis). The students held signs saying “I am Troy Davis”, “Stop the execution”, and “Abolish the death penalty”.

The demonstration had a large turnout despite being organized in just under a day, and featured speakers from [Black Student Movement](/tags/black-student-movement), [Students for a Democratic Society](/tags/students-democratic-society), the [NAACP](tags/naacp), and other student organizations. Students chanted “We want justice for Troy Davis!” and sang civil rights songs such as “We shall not be moved”.

Rev. Curtis Gatewood of the NAACP spoke last, giving a powerful speech punctuated by students chanting “Too much doubt!”. “We need to turn this into a movement against the racist and classist death penalty,” said Rev. Gatewood.

Gatewood also reminded protesters of the parallels to [Darryl Hunt](https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Darryl_Hunt), a North Carolina man who spent two decades on death row for a crime he did not commit. Hunt is now a prominent North Carolina advocate with the Innocence Project working to abolish the death penalty.

Despite the overwhelming odds against Davis, the protesters vowed to continue the fight for justice and civil rights.

#ChapelHillNC #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #NAACP #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #TroyDavis #BlackStudentMovement #UNCChapelHill #ReverendCurtisGatewood

Chapel Hill, NC – Over 100 activists from across the South gathered at the University of North Carolina School of Law Feb. 19 for a conference against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists. The conference was one of four regional conferences organized by the national Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR). Activists came from as far as Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia.

The main goal of the conference, which was organized locally by the Triangle CSFR, was to inform activists about the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids on anti-war activists and to unify organizing work across the region. 23 activists have now been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago relating to an investigation concerning the ‘material support of terrorism.’

The conference also examined the political and legal context for the FBI attacks on the anti-war movement, including the ten years of assaults on civil liberties and democratic rights under the guise of the so-called war on terror.

“The Southern Regional Conference of the CSFR was a really great event,” said subpoenaed activist and keynote speaker Steff Yorek. “The conference did an excellent job of tying together the issues around this case with the history and current realities of similar issues taking place in the South.”

The conference began with an address from subpoenaed activists Meredith Aby and Steff Yorek, who described in moving detail the outrageous raids on their homes, including how their young children were traumatized by the FBI raids. Aby noted, “The FBI basically held me hostage in my own house while they searched it for several hours.” Aby discussed her subpoena to appear before the federal grand jury, and, to applause and cheers from the 100 attendees, Aby stated, “At no moment did I ever consider honoring this subpoena!”

Learning the history of FBI attacks on the movement

The first panel of the conference, moderated by Elena Everett of Raleigh FIST and the Triangle Committee to Stop FBI Repression, brought forth activists with decades of experience in the movements for justice, and who know firsthand about FBI and political repression against their movements.

Attorney Lewis Pitts gave an overview of the FBI's complicity in the Greensboro massacre, where several outstanding labor organizers were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1979. Despite his chilling account of the state repression that led to murder, Pitts stressed, “We can't be frightened, we can't be chilled.”

Theresa El-Amin, of the Green Party of the United States and the Southern Anti-Racism Network, traveled to the conference from Columbus, Georgia. After describing the FBI surveillance and repression of the Black liberation movement when she was active in the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, El-Amin urged attendees, “Let's leave this conference with consciousness about how the FBI represses and why it does, so that we do not let it disrupt our movements.”

“I lived through the days of raids of Black Panther Party and I feel like I'm coming full circle,” said Efia Nwangaza of the U.S. Human Rights Network in Atlanta, Georgia. Nwangaza spoke of the more than 100 political prisoners in the United States and the urgency to free those prisoners, as well as prevent new ones from being interred.

Dianne Mathiowetz from the International Action Center in Atlanta closed out the panel by speaking about U.S. support of political repression in Colombia and elsewhere in South and Central America. Mathiowetz also discussed how the School of the Americas is used to attack the people's movements in Colombia.

Grand Juries, Material Support of Terrorism, the Legal and Political Context of the September 24 Raids

“The grand jury is supposed to stand between people and repressive government but it doesn't work that way,” said Lewis Pitts in the morning panel. In the second panel of the day, speakers spoke about what this reality means for those who have been subpoenaed and why it is important to support activists who are refusing to appear before it.

“We heard from activists involved in protecting civil liberties about how new legislation has been developed to prosecute people for their political work and about how old legislation that protected our rights has been dismantled,” said Maureen Murphy, a member of the Palestine Solidarity Group, in describing the panel to Fight Back!. “Speakers talked about how this has disproportionately affected the Arab and Muslim community in the U.S. and so we must stand together and unite to push back against this repression.”

Murphy spoke about the long history of the government's use of grand juries to persecute political activists. Murphy also discussed the international context for the raids, and demonstrated how the U.S. is worried about the uprisings in Arab states. “While the increasingly desperate and defeated U.S. government will not simply step to the side and allow for peoples' liberation,” Murphy emphasized, “we must not let the threat of repression prevent us from continuing to organize in support of peoples' struggles and toward a future of freedom and dignity for us all.”

Activist Peter Gilbert of the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights gave an informative overview of how the Supreme Court decision in Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project is impacting international solidarity activists. Lela Ali, a 16-year old Egyptian activist from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, representing In the Name of Humanity, gave an account of that organization's solidarity work with the people of Palestine. Ali also pointed to the struggles of the Egyptian people, as did many of the conference attendees, and urged those present to take inspiration from their struggle for freedom and democracy. Khalilah Sabra, from MAS Freedom, spoke about the criminalization of dissent and how the government is increasingly labeling those who oppose U.S. foreign policy as ‘terrorists.’

Jennifer Rudinger, the executive director of the ACLU in North Carolina, talked about the expansion of the PATRIOT Act and intensification of violations of privacy. Rudinger highlighted how massive databases of information are being mined and used for profiling individuals. She also gave a brief “Know Your Rights” training to members of the audience. Leila Yaghi gave a moving account of her son Ziyad Yaghi's case. Ziyad is one of the North Carolina 7, a group of people who were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. In reality, Yaghi says, all her son did was take a trip to visit their homeland in Jordan.

Closing out the panel, Meredith Aby talked about how the material support of terrorism laws are being used to attack activists for their First and Fourth amendment activities. Aby also talked about the government infiltration of the Anti-War Committee, and how ‘Karen Sullivan,’ a professional liar, spent two and half years pretending to be an activist committed to peace and justice, while in reality she was spying on anti-war activists.

Continuing to build the struggle against FBI repression in the South

After the second panel concluded, activists gave reports about their local organizing efforts to oppose the FBI witch hunt against the anti-war movement. Attendees heard from organizers in Columbus and Atlanta Georgia; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Richmond, Virginia; South Carolina and Asheville, Durham, Raleigh, Rocky Mount and Greensboro in North Carolina. Organizers from Memphis Tennessee also described how the FBI attempted to intimidate their protest on Jan. 25. Inspired by the proceedings of the conference, organizers in Tennessee are now working on forming a Middle Tennessee Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

After the regional reports, Steff Yorek led the final section of the conference that discussed upcoming actions and summed up the day's events. All attendees vowed to mobilize for emergency protests should further subpoenas or indictments be issued against any anti-war activists. Attendees commented that they were extremely pleased with the panels and presentations, and were energized to continue the struggle. After the conference, Yorek told Fight Back!, “It was important to come together to against the attack on civil liberties and the right to dissent and oppose the attack by the Department of Justice on the anti-war and international solidarity movements.”

Here in the Triangle area, organizers with the Triangle Committee to Stop FBI Repression were pleased with the result of the conference. Matt Drew, an organizer with the Triangle CSFR, told Fight Back!, “I thought it went very well. The broad support from our 38 co-sponsoring organizations across the South was amazing. The success of the conference has energized our committee to keep expanding and we will keep applying pressure to get this FBI repression shut down.”

#ChapelHillNC #InJusticeSystem #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression

Chapel Hill, NC – A conference to address the recent FBI raids on anti-war and international solidarity activists’ homes and offices will take place Feb. 19 from 9:45 am until 5:00 pm at the UNC Law School on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided for a suggested $5 donation. Childcare will be available free of charge.

The conference is the southern regional event in response to the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids on activists’ homes in Minneapolis and Chicago and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee. To date, a total of 23 activists have received summons to appear before a Grand Jury run by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. There will be several speakers and panels over the course of the day. Scheduled panels include “History of FBI and Political Repression Against People's Movements” and “Grand Juries, Material Support of Terrorism, the Legal and Political Context.”

“This important regional conference, like the ones being held in New York, Chicago and Oakland, will bring many activists together to say 'no' to the FBI and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's campaign of intimidation and repression against the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movements,” said Kosta Harlan, a local activist visited by the FBI in September. “Everyone concerned about the attacks on our democratic rights should attend.”

The conference main sponsor is The Triangle Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Co-sponsors include ACLU of North Carolina, Asheville Committee to Stop FBI Re­pression, Asheville SDS, Atlanta International Action Center, Blackwater Watch, Charles M. Jones Peace and Justice Committee of the Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist, Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Durham County Libertarian Party, Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans for Peace, Green Party of the United States, Internationalist Books, Israeli Coalition Against House Demolition (ICAHD-USA), Jews for a Just Peace, Libertarian Party of North Carolina, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, National Lawyers Guild at UNC Chapel Hill, NC Stop Torture Now, North Carolina Peace Action, Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Raleigh F.I.S.T., Raleigh Fruitcakes, Southern Anti-Racism Network, Tuscaloosa SDS, UE Local 150, UNC Chapel Hill SDS, U.S. Human Rights Network and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Triangle Branch.

#ChapelHillNC #InJusticeSystem #FBI #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #grandJury

“Tom Tancredo is not welcome on our campus,” said Ana Maria Reichenbach, a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), at the press conference. SDS, Feminist Students United and other campus and community groups are working together to mobilize students and community members to greet the racist Tancredo with protests when he comes to campus on April 26.

Tom Tancredo was invited to speak at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) by the white supremacist organization, Youth for Western Civilization (YWC). Youth for Western Civilization states that their group exists to “promote the survival of Western Civilization and pride in Western heritage” and calls themselves “the West’s right-wing youth movement.” The Southern Poverty Law Center’s website has cited that YWC has direct ties to known white nationalist hate organizations. Tancredo also has close ties to the right-wing paramilitary Minutemen organization, which has assaulted and killed immigrants in the U.S.

Last year, YWC invited Tom Tancredo to UNC to speak against immigrants, but his speaking event was shut down by energetic, militant protests of hundreds of students, immigrant rights activists, and community members. The students marched to where Tancredo was set to speak, chanting, “Shut it down – no racists in our town!” Some protesters were inside the room where the talk was being held and challenged Tancredo on his anti-immigration views while holding banners saying “No dialogue with hate,” and “No one is illegal.”

Campus police responded by attacking students with pepper spray, threatening them with taser guns and arresting a student one week after the demonstration took place (charges were later dropped).

The protest that successfully shut down Tancredo made national headlines – the Chancellor and the chair of the board of trustees scrambled to apologize to Tancredo. A wave of repression swept the activist community at UNC and the leaders of the protest came under intense pressure by right-wing forces on and off UNC's campus. However, immigrant rights activists across the country stood in solidarity with the student protesters and defended their actions.

Carlos Montes, an organizer from the Los Angeles-based Latinos Against War, and member of the Southern California Immigration Coalition, wrote to the protestors, “Students and young people in the U.S. have historically been in the forefront of the civil rights and peace movements, and we are inspired that you are setting the example by standing in solidarity with the immigrant rights movement.”

Despite Tancredo's well-known racist views, the university administrations are defending Tancredo's scheduled appearance at UNC under the guise of ‘freedom of speech.’ But as a statement from SDS at UNC-Chapel Hill makes clear: “[People] like Tancredo do not speak in a vacuum; they support and mobilize racist and unjust actions against groups they oppose.” The statement continues, “We refuse to be silent or participate in meaningless dialogues while right-wing leaders sweep through our country and attempt to steal our human rights.”

#ChapelHillNC #ImmigrantRights #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #YouthForWesternCivilization #TomTancredo

Chapel Hill, NC – Twenty students picketed the Board of Trustees meeting, Nov. 18, as the trustees voted to increase out-of-state tuition by $1162 for the coming year at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The protest was called by Students Against Budget Cuts and Tuition Hikes.

While the tuition hikes were the immediate cause for protest, the students were also demonstrating against the budget cuts that have targeted the lowest-paid workers on campus, as well as departments and centers on campus that serve oppressed peoples and that were won through decades of struggle by progressive activists.

“It's not just about the tuition hike,” explained Rakhee Devasthali, an organizer of the protests. “It is about the whole budget crisis. There is money in the university in the useless layers of administration and we need to cut that, instead of putting the burden of the crisis on the students and workers.”

The protesters entered and surrounded the trustees during the finance committee meeting, holding signs that said, “No tuition hikes” and “Public schools budget info must be public.” The students represented a broad range of organizations on campus.

The protesters were denied speaking during the ‘open’ committee meeting. Instead, Chancellor Thorpe told the protesters that they could have five minutes on the agenda at 8:30 a.m. on the following day.

On Nov. 19, a smaller group of protesters returned to have their say. After being harassed by police outside the Carolina Inn, they were allowed inside. With them, they brought 400 petition signatures that were gathered in the last week. The petition text reads:

“As a University of the people, we demand that UNC-Chapel Hill makes access to and affordability of an education their first priority.

We demand no tuition hikes for undergraduates or graduate students. The burden of the budget cuts should not be shouldered by students, workers, and faculty, any and all cuts should be taken from the top, from the University administration.

We demand a moratorium on tuition hikes for five years.

We demand an open, transparent, and democratic process for addressing the budget crisis in which those who comprise the majority of the University students, workers, and faculty have the loudest voice.

We demand an immediate end to budget cuts to departments that serve or represent oppressed peoples.”

Rakhee Devasthali presented these demands to the Board of Trustees and told them that the democratic thing to do would be to hold a referendum and ask the campus community to vote on the proposed tuition hikes.

“You aren't representing us,” Devasthali told the Board of Trustees. “Student government isn't representing us. And we have a petition of hundreds of students and they're not being represented by these groups either. This is not a democratic process.”

#ChapelHillNC #CapitalismAndEconomy #UniversityOfNorthCarolinaAtChapelHill #StudentsAgainstBudgetCutsAndTuitionHikes

Fight Back: Please give us a little background about the trial. What where you charged with?

Haley Koch: I was charged with “disturbing the peace at an educational institution,” a subsection of the disorderly conduct statute. I was arrested nine days following the protest of the white supremacist hate group Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) and the racist, xenophobic Tom Tancredo. Although more than 250 students and community members expressed their outrage and disapproval at his presence, I was the only person arrested. I was handcuffed outside my class, in front of my classmates and professor, and walked across campus before being patted down, searched, and then taken to the police station. This followed the disgraceful behavior of the University and its police forces in their apology to Tom Tancredo and their harassment of student activists.

Fight Back: Despite months of pressure from the UNC administration and right-wing forces, the judge dismissed the charges against you and other protesters. How do you feel about this? Do you feel vindicated?

Haley Koch: I believe the dismissal sent a strong message to the University community that protest (even loud, visible protest) is legal and should not be repressed and policed in the way it was. I should hope that they would think harder about arresting protesters in the future. I also hope that students take note that we can and will have our voices heard.

Fight Back: What was the role of community support in this victory? What would you like to say to your supporters?

Haley Koch: The community support was overwhelming and crucial to the continued struggle. At a time when the University, local media and campus liberals were all speaking out against the protesters, organizational and individual letters and petitions in solidarity renewed our energy and helped us to feel less isolated and alone. The repression at the time was intense, meant to fragment, demoralize, and silence us. It might have worked were it not for the amazing support we received from across the country and around the world. At a time when I was receiving hate mail and being threatened on white supremacist and white nationalist websites, it was incredibly encouraging to know that there were many people out there dedicated to the same struggles, people who are willing to support each other in whatever ways they can and who live their lives committed to fighting these oppressive forces.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the love and support we received. It is essential that we come together in times of repression to show our collective strength and to continue to build power and feed our political efforts. I cannot emphasize enough how important the community support was and continues to be.

Fight Back: YWC's previous faculty advisor Chris Clemens stepped down over the summer, and was nearly disbanded from campus as a result. But now they have a new faculty sponsor and have announced events for the fall. Will the organizing continue against the YWC?

Haley Koch: The organizing against YWC will continue. Chris Clemens' decision to step down as advisor of YWC revealed the fact that sometimes protest and “controversy” are necessary to create social change.

YWC is planning to bring Bay Buchanan later this year. There will be protests. I still have hopes that the advisor and the president will come to realize that they are enabling a white supremacist hate group and will choose to step down. But, if they desire a fight, they should know that we have the strength and resources for it.

We will continue to organize against fascism, racism, and hate speech. These oppressions must not be allowed on our campus or in our communities.

Fight Back: The struggle against YWC has also put forward to other demands about a police review board and a hate speech policy at UNC, can you briefly let us know what is going on with that?

Haley Koch: The Protesters Defense Committee (PDC) is having conversations with Student Government about creating a police review board, and we will continue to fight for this. The next step will be mobilizing broader student and faculty support. We now have recorded testimony by police officer Lieutenant Twiddy saying that he shoved me to the ground that I believe will help in this struggle.

Several of us are meeting with Chancellor Thorp in the coming weeks to discuss the University's acceptance of hate and to explore ways to make the campus community a place safe for all students.

We will also be thinking creatively about ways to advance the struggle against institutionalized racism across the campus and our town.

#ChapelHillNC #OppressedNationalities #YouthForWesternCivilization #HaleyKoch

Fight Back!: What are the achievements of the sit-in?

Hirsch: It is possible that Chancellor Moeser will not adopt the Designated Suppliers Program [DSP] before he leaves his post at the end of June. We have made it clear to the incoming Chancellor that we are serious about workers’ rights at Carolina and we have shown how much public support there is in the community for the DSP. The Chancellor was forced to call an emergency meeting of the Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee and the DSP is back on the table.

Our sit-in empowered students and strengthened our group, Student Action with Workers. We built relationships with campus workers and student groups, and made important connections with community members. Next year we will have a strong group and are in a better position than ever to act in solidarity with workers. The sit-in is over but the fight for the DSP will go on and we will continue to work for justice for all workers.

Fight Back!: Did you receive support from other groups? What impact did this have in the struggle?

Hirsch: By the end of the sit-in we had endorsements from 18 different student groups. Students from many of these groups joined our sit-in or did support work for us during the sit-in. We were endorsed by the Progressive Faculty Network, the university Employee Forum and several local unions. Our local state senator supported us and came to our rallies and many people from the community were behind us.

Support ranged anywhere from bringing us food and sending us encouraging messages to spending the weekend inside of the building. Groups at other schools around the country that are affiliated with United Students Against Sweatshops sent messages out about our sit-in and did solidarity actions at their own universities. Having four sit-ins for the DSP around the country take place within a week and a half of each other strengthened us. Having students and faculty behind the sit-in was most important to us because the administration needed to see how much support for workers rights there is at Carolina.

Fight Back!: Chancellor Moeser does not seem interested in negotiating. What are your next steps?

Hirsch: The Chancellor would rather arrest students than take a stand for human rights. Chancellor Moeser was never willing to have an honest discussion about the DSP, and consistently misrepresented the policy to the media. He did not respond to the ten-page letter we sent him during the sit-in that corrected many of the untrue things he had said and asked him to meet with us. The Chancellor’s refusal to respect basic human rights forced us into occupying South Building. He has tarnished his legacy and UNC’s reputation, but the administration has been reminded once again that students will make sacrifices to stand in solidarity with workers.

#ChapelHillNC #ChapellHillNC #Interview #Interviews #WorkersAndGlobalization #CarolinaSweatfreeCoalition #DesignatedSuppliersProgram #ChancellorMoeser

Chapel Hill, NC – A 16-day sit-in at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) administration building came to a dramatic close on Friday May 2, when Chancellor Moeser ordered UNC police to arrest five of the protesters. It was the longest sit-in protest in UNC’s history. Dozens of students had occupied the lobby of South Building, the administrative headquarters at UNC, in a protest against the university’s use of sweatshops for the manufacture of UNC apparel (Sit-in at administration building demands end to UNC sweatshop clothing, Fight Back!, April 2008).

The students, members of the Carolina Sweatfree Coalition, had demanded that Chancellor Moeser and the UNC Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program, which would ensure that university apparel is manufactured in factories where workers earn a living wage and have the right to organize. In contrast, most UNC apparel is currently manufactured in Central American and South Asian sweatshops, where workers are routinely harassed on the job, denied the right to organize and earn pitiful wages that fall short of what is needed to support a family.

After 16 days of sitting in, members of the Carolina Sweatfree Coalition were granted a meeting with the licensing committee and the Chancellor. Commenting on what took place at the meeting, Student Action with Workers member Salma Mirza said, “Chancellor Moeser demonstrated at that committee meeting that he had no intention of taking any moral leadership on the fact that our apparel is manufactured under sweatshop conditions.”

After the meeting, the Carolina Sweatfree Coalition held a press conference in South Building. A dozen students then entered Chancellor Moeser’s office to inform him that they would continue to occupy the administration building until he entered into a genuine dialog with the Coalition. In response, Moeser ordered the students arrested. The police arrested one student without warning, and then told the others to leave if they did not want to be arrested. Four remained and were arrested on charges of failure to disperse, while one student was charged with resisting arrest.

“We knew our arrests would join with the 46 others that have taken place across the U.S. around this campaign, and that we would be contributing to the deep history of struggle at UNC,” said Tim Stallmann, a graduate student at UNC and a member of Student Action with Workers. “This was an anti-sweatshop fight, but we were putting our bodies on the line for all workers involved at UNC: the clerical and campus workers, the student workers and the workers manufacturing UNC apparel in sweatshops around the world.”

The statement from the Coalition on the arrests said, “The Chancellor stated that he was disappointed by our actions. We cannot begin to express our disappointment in the Chancellor of a university that calls itself the ‘university of the people,’ who would prefer to arrest peaceful student protesters instead of ensuring that there is justice for the workers who make this university run.”

Members of the Coalition and Student Action with Workers, the group that led the protests, promise to continue the struggle the next year. “The campaign for justice for all workers in the Carolina community will not end with the arrests of peaceful student protesters,” explained Salma Mirza. “Though we were the ones arrested, we must ask -which is more criminal, our act of peacefully occupying an office of a public institution that our tuition pays for, or Chancellor Moeser allowing our Carolina apparel to be made under sweatshop conditions that violate international and domestic law?”

For more information, and to support the campaign, please visit: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/uncsitin

#ChapelHillNC #ChapellHillNC #News #WorkersAndGlobalization #civilDisobedience #CarolinaSweatfreeCoalition #sitin

Chapel Hill, NC – Haley Koch and six community activists had their first court date June 1, for their participation in the Tom Tancredo and Virgil Goode protests that took place in April. These protests were in response to a far right-wing organization, Youth for Western Civilization, that brought two anti-immigration speakers, Tom Tancredo and Virgil Goode, to the University of North Carolina campus within a week of each other. Hundreds of students and activists protested the racism, xenophobia and white supremacy that these speakers promoted and seven demonstrators were arrested by campus police in response. They all pleaded not guilty, even after being offered a deal by the district attorney which would lighten their sentence in return for admission of guilt. The seven are standing strong in their belief that they did no wrong in protesting racism and white supremacy on UNC’s campus and will represent themselves in their next court date, Sept. 14.

UNC students and community members came out to the courthouse in large numbers to stand in solidarity with the activists. A rally and a press conference organized by the UNC Protesters Defense Committee (PDC) put forward the following demands: drop the charges against all the activists; dissolve Youth for Western Civilization; UNC must adopt an official hate speech policy to prevent such events from happening again; an independent police review board should be created. The rally included speeches from Haley’s father, Chris Koch, Reverend Harris from Saint Joseph’s Church, along with former UNC students and community activists who spoke in support of the seven activists and called for the university to meet the demands of the Protesters Defense Committee.

Although the next court date is not until September, the community is continuing to rally strong around this issue. The community solidarity is already beginning to produce results. Last week the student movement gained an important victory when the advisor of the YWC announced he would no longer serve as an advisor to the group, saying that the organization has built a reputation that is “an obstacle to constructive dialogue” due to the resistance it met on campus. “I’m not willing to sponsor an affiliate of the national YWC,” Professor Clemens said. If the organization does not find an advisor within 30 days, it will no longer be an official campus organization. Because of the reputation the organization has gained on campus, many faculty members may be reluctant to take it on. If this happens, Youth for Western Civilization will be without a home, and that would be a blow against organized white supremacy and anti-immigrant politics in the community.

The Protesters Defense Committee is continuing to build support around the creation of an independent review board, exploring the possibility of partnering with UNC’s student government to write a resolution for it. The PDC is also working to keep up support for the seven activists and prepare for the court date in September. The PDC is calling on all those who oppose racist hate-mongering and anti-immigrant politics to stand in solidarity with the PDC and other popular forces in the community in struggling against national oppression and racism.

#ChapelHillNC #News #Racism #YouthForWesternCivilization #WhiteSupremacy

Chapel Hill, NC – A delegation of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) delivered a letter to Chancellor Thorp's office, Feb. 25, demanding that UNC divest from Israel. Holding a banner that said, “End U.S. aid to Israel!” the students explained their demands to the university administrator who received the letter in place of Chancellor Thorp. “We want our university to stop investing in the murder of Palestinian civilians,” said Maddy Miller, a member of SDS.

The letter delivery is the first step in what SDS and other student organizers project will be a long, hard-fought battle to make UNC divest from the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

“We believe the direction of history and the demands of justice are clear,” reads the conclusion of the letter delivered to the UNC administration. “Rather than sit on the sidelines, or worse, consciously try to hold back progress, we would like for our university to take a stand and help move the Palestinian people's struggle for justice forward. Divestment and boycott will be a powerful message to those who continue to oppress and occupy the Palestinian people and a strong impetus to negotiate a lasting peace based on the principles of equality and justice.”

The letter outlined several demands, including disclosure of all university investments through the UNC Investment Fund; severing contracts with and divesting from any corporations that are profiting from the occupation of Palestine; establishing a curriculum in Palestine Studies and partnering with Palestinian academics and academic institutions; providing scholarships to at least five Palestinian students each year; and removing Israeli products and products made by companies profiting from the occupation of Palestine from university stores.

The recent Israeli assault on Gaza, which left thousands dead and wounded, has created a shift in public opinion. More and more student groups, labor unions and religious organizations are initiating campaigns to boycott, divest and sanction Israel until it recognizes the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.

In January, in New York state, students occupied the University of Rochester in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Then days later a major victory for the divestment movement came in Massachusetts when Hampshire College became the first university in the United States to divest from companies that are profiting from the occupation of Palestine. Significantly, Hampshire College was also the first university to divest from the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1977. And on Feb. 19, solidarity with Gaza and aid for Palestinian students was a core demand of the student building takeover at New York University.

Commenting on the victory of the Hampshire College divestment, Ben Berry, a Hampshire student and current organizer with SDS at UNC Chapel Hill, said, “The Hampshire divestment was a great victory, and a humble beginning. We achieved economic divestment at a college with a relatively small endowment.” Hampshire College's investment fund is valued at about $46 million. Divestment at UNC will be much more difficult, Berry said, “When you look at the fact that UNC's investments are over $2 billion.” Speaking of why he was motivated to work for this cause, Berry said, “As a Jew, I feel a personal tie to the conflict, and feel it's important for me to do what I can to help raise awareness and bring an end to this terrible occupation.”

#ChapelHillNC #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #News #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Palestine #Divestment #GazaWar #MiddleEast

Chapel Hill, NC – Over 120 students rallied against John Ashcroft at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill campus Sept. 12, disrupting his speech. Ashcroft was Attorney General under Bush. He is responsible for the repressive PATRIOT Act, legislative attacks on women's reproductive rights and policies aimed at criminalizing immigrant workers.

Students for a Democratic Society called for the demonstration early in the week. As word got around campus that Ashcroft was coming to speak and that a protest was being organized, other student groups planned their own response. Meghan Morris, from Feminist Students United, explained why they protested, “John Ashcroft represents a lot of the racism, homophobia and sexism in the U.S. today. He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage; he is behind the most egregious assaults on our civil liberties in recent years, especially since Sept. 11. He epitomizes everything about the policies that hurt so many people – except rich white men like himself.”

The rally kicked off with students chanting for an end to the 'war on terror' and the occupation of Iraq. With megaphone in hand, students made speeches denouncing Ashcroft while passers-by stopped to see what was going on. Student activist Mohanned Mallah condemned Ashcroft's racist attacks on Arab-Americans in the aftermath of Sept. 11. He said, “I am not a terrorist – I am Arab! I came over to the U.S. from Palestine when I was five years old. It's policies that John Ashcroft and the Bush administration make that have kept me from getting my citizenship – or even my permanent residence. I'm not even a green card holder. I would like to go home and see my family in Jordan, but I wouldn't be allowed back into the country, so I've been stuck in the United States for the past fifteen years.”

When Ashcroft's talk began, the protesters streamed into the auditorium. Each time Ashcroft spoke on the occupation of Iraq and the 'war on terror,' students disrupted his speech, standing up to expose his lies. Ashcroft became increasingly frustrated and arrogant towards his challengers. Things came to a head when 60 students at the front of the auditorium stood up and led a coordinated walkout. This led to a new rally outside, louder than before, demanding that Ashcroft leave. The rally swelled to 120 protesters, who could be heard clearly from inside the auditorium. Later, the demonstrators spotted Ashcroft exiting the building and chased after him chanting, “Fascist go home!”

A debate is now raging on campus over the protesters' tactics. Some say that the protest “hurt the credibility of the student body,” and was a “disgrace.” Others counter that the protesters did a good thing in opposing Ashcroft, arguing that war criminals should be confronted any time they set foot on campus. Eastern Carolina University student Jacek Teller, of Iraq Veterans Against the War, summed up his message to students this way, “Don't buy into the drumbeat for war, don't rally around the flag thinking it's going to provide you security, because it's not. If you do that, you're just part of the system of manufactured consent for these war crimes.”

#ChapelHillNC #AntiwarMovement #News #walkout #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #FeministStudentsUnited #JohnAshcroft

Chapel Hill, NC – Chants of, “Out of Iraq, out of our schools!” rose above the noise of afternoon traffic as protesters marched to Chapel Hill’s new Army Career Center on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Led by UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, the group of about 50 marchers was joined by another several dozen protesters at the recruiting station. Demonstrators held a rally and a press conference condemning the war against Iraq and the predatory tactics of military recruiters.

“The military has come to Chapel Hill because they are desperate for more young people to continue occupying Iraq. They will do anything to get the next recruit,” said Ben Carrol, member of UNC-Chapel Hill SDS. “In recent years Pell Grants and other programs that help low-income youth attend college have been drastically slashed while the military budget has gone through the roof. As the federal government cuts off the means for low-income students to attend college, the military's recruiting budget has skyrocketed to over $4 billion. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”

Emily McFarlane, a member of SDS and UNC-CH's Feminist Students United, spoke about the special threat that military recruiters presented to women and people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual. “The evidence of military and military recruiter violence against women is staggering,” McFarlane said. “Recruiters are assaulting women at an overwhelming rate. Since 1996, 722 army recruiters have been accused of rape or sexual misconduct. Last year alone over 100 women, mostly high school students, reported that they were raped by military recruiters trying to persuade them to enlist. This is not a case of a few bad apples – sexism and sexual violence are an integral part of the U.S. military.”

McFarlane also spoke about the military’s ‘don't-ask-don't-tell’ policy: “Why should we allow military recruiters on our campus in blatant violation of our own university’s non-discrimination policies? We do not want our women subjected to sexual violence. We do not want our young men turned into instruments of sexual violence. We want every person valued and protected from violence and discrimination. So what do we do? Refuse to be a part of the military, a system that normalizes sexism, heterosexism and sexual violence. Refuse the presence of a recruiting station that enlists young men and women to continue these horrific trends. Military recruiters out now.”

The demonstrators were not fazed by the group of about ten war supporters who had gathered at the station, even when the small group began hurling insults and threats. Meanwhile, a team of police officers looked on and grinned, clearly waiting for a fight that would give them a reason to shut down the demonstration. In spite of these attacks, the protesters continued their rally, finishing with a declaration that this action would not be the last, saying that they were committed to opposing the recruiters wherever they went until the station is shut down.

UNC Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society and its allies have joined a growing movement across the country to stop the war in Iraq where it starts, by opposing military recruiters on the ground. By slowing or stopping the flow of new recruits into the U.S. military, anti-war activists in the U.S. can do a great deal to undermine the occupation of Iraq. While the politicians in Washington may not listen to protests or votes, they will have no choice but to withdraw when they run out of soldiers to fight and die in their criminal wars for profit in the Middle East.

#ChapelHillNC #AntiwarMovement #News #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #counterrecruitment #FeministStudentsUnited

Chapel Hill, NC – On April 23, about 100 students gathered for the second time in two weeks to oppose white supremacists organizing on the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s campus. Just one week after the racist Tom Tancredo was driven off campus by turbulent protests, the Youth for Western Civilization (YWC), a white supremacist organization, brought former Virginia congressman Virgil Goode to speak about affirmative action and immigration.

60 students gathered in the Pit for a speak-out against racism. A broad united front of political and cultural organizations on campus organized the event. 200 students stopped to listen and debate with demonstrators, while students gave speeches denouncing the white supremacist views of Tom Tancredo, Youth for Western Civilization and Virgil Goode.

“We called on students to boycott the Virgil Goode event. The media makes them out to be the victim, but we understand that YWC is a national organization funded by white supremacists,” said Ariana Lucido, a first-year student at UNC and a member of Students for a Democratic Society and Alianza. “Our protest served to give students a voice that had been silenced by Goode and YWC’s hate speech. We will continue to speak out anywhere white supremacists and racist bigots try to oppress people.”

Inside the event, dozens of protesters greeted Virgil Goode with booing and hisses. Six activists were arrested when they held signs denouncing white supremacy and raised their voices against racism. Students were quick to point out the blatant hypocrisy of the administration in cracking down on the protesters.

“Chancellor Thorp has publicly apologized for the supposed violation of Tancredo’s right to spew hate,” said Carlyn Cowen, a UNC undergraduate. “He has been noticeably silent on the issue of the right of UNC students to speak freely against him and protest on their own campus. He seems more eager to protect the right of politicians to promote their racist agendas here than securing the safety and well-being of his own students.”

#ChapelHillNC #ImmigrantRights #News #Tancredo #YouthForWesternCivilization

Fight Back! is circulating the following statement issued by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Chapel Hill, NC – After the April 14th demonstration against former Republican representative Tom Tancredo, which involved two hundred students from numerous organizations, solidarity letters have poured in applauding the protesters’ actions. The statements have come from local, state and national social justice organizations — including notable immigrant advocacy groups.

“Students and young people in the U.S. have historically been in the forefront of the civil rights and peace movements, and we are inspired that you are setting the example by standing in solidarity with the immigrant rights movement,” said Carlos Montes, an organizer from the Los Angeles-based Latinos Against War, and member of the Southern California Immigration Coalition.

A statement from the Palante Action Network of Durham, North Carolina, said, “It is vital to movements for social justice and human rights that white supremacists like Tancredo are met with strong resistance wherever they go. We commend your willingness to stand up and make it clear that you oppose his racist anti-immigrant hatred and that hate speech cannot be part of a democratic or respectful environment. As citizens and activists, we are honored to express solidarity with you.”

The International Action Center, a grassroots organization founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, expressed its full support.

“The message sent by the UNC students is welcomed by progressive forces in the United States and worldwide. And it is a clear answer to hate speech: No attempt to mobilize a racist, anti-immigrant campaign can be allowed without confrontation from these progressive forces,” the IAC said.

Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the American Arab Action Network in Chicago, said: “As an organization that upholds the rights of immigrants and all oppressed people in the U.S. and across the world, we support your first amendment right to protest Tancredo and the racism, hate, and criminalization of immigrants that he represents. White supremacist formations like the Youth for Western Civilization, the student group that invited Tancredo, should be confronted and denounced at every turn, and the students at UNC who participated in these protests should be esteemed as the heroic fighters for justice that they are.”

Multiple chapters of Students for a Democratic Society, from UNC-Asheville to University of California at Los Angeles, have written letters of congratulations and encouragement.

“It is sickening that people like Tancredo and his supporters, who never missed an opportunity in recent years to cheer for more unlawful detentions, more prison camps, more destruction of families and more suppression of freedom of speech for millions of working people in this country now whine that they have been denied their rights at the first sign of opposition to their hateful views,” said UCLA’s chapter of SDS.

Many of the statements denounced the egregious police violence visited on protesters at Tuesday’s action. They joined UNC’s chapter of SDS in its call for oversight of police activity on campus.

A statement from Philadelphia SDS said, “Campus security's violent escalation against nonviolent student protesters was an outrageous abuse of power. Students who were not threatening bodily harm against anyone, but following their conscience and expressing their freedom of speech should never have been met with violence. We expect UNC security and administration officials to learn from this event not to escalate chaos in tense situations by violently assaulting students.”

As messages of solidarity with the UNC students continue to arrive, they will be posted to the website of UNC-Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society (http://www.chapelhillsds.org), one of many organizations involved in the protest.

#ChapelHillNC #ImmigrantRights #Tancredo #LatinosAgainstWar #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #SouthernCaliforniaImmigrationCoalition

Chapel Hill, NC – Over 200 protesters gathered here on April 15 to protest a talk given by the racist former congressman Tom Tancredo. Students, faculty and staff were in the streets and the lobby of the building chanting, “Shut it down – no racists in our town!” Some protesters were inside the room where the talk was being held and challenged Tancredo on his anti-immigration views while holding banners saying “No dialogue with hate,” and “No one is illegal.”

During the protest, the University of North Carolina (UNC) campus police pepper-sprayed individuals without warning and threatened to taser those who did not leave the building immediately. According to a press release by the UNC chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), witnesses also saw campus police throw two women out of the room onto the ground of the lobby and one officer pulling a third woman’s hair when removing the protesters from the building. In response to their conduct, UNC SDS is demanding investigation into the actions of the campus police and is also calling for a standing student review board to oversee all police conduct on campus.

The group who brought Tancredo to speak on campus, Youth for Western Civilization, states that their group exists to “promote the survival of Western Civilization and pride in Western heritage” and calls themselves “the West’s right-wing youth movement.” The Southern Poverty Law Center’s blog has cited that YWC has direct ties to known white nationalist hate organizations. One of YWC’s founders, Marcus Epstein, wrote in an essay, “Diversity can be good in moderation – if what is being brought in is desirable. Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers – as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.”

Tancredo himself has become a symbol of hatred and racism across the nation. Tancredo declares multiculturalism to be a “self-destructive belief” and a “cult” and is notorious for his proposed anti-immigrant legislation. The students and staff at UNC have given strength to progressive groups around the country by standing up to Tancredo. Carlos Montes, with the Southern California Immigration Coalition, said, “I support the students right to protest racist Tom Tancredo. Tancredo has to be confronted and exposed wherever he speaks. The students should be commended for their action.”

Students and activists across the country need to stand up to racism and hate. Groups like Youth for Western Civilization and individuals like Tom Tancredo will continue to spew anti-immigrant and racist slogans unless we organize against them and for immigrants, for national liberation, and for progress.

#ChapelHillNC #ImmigrantRights #Tancredo #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #YouthForWesternCivilization

Chapel Hill, NC – Eight students are risking arrest by sitting in at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) administration headquarters, April 17, demanding that Chancellor Moeser take a stand in opposing the production of UNC clothing by sweatshop labor. Earlier, 50 students, faculty and staff rallied outside to show their solidarity with the sit-in. The protesters, members of the Carolina Sweatfree Coalition – a coalition of 20 student groups at UNC – are demanding that UNC cut ties with sweatshops and adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP).

Large amounts of UNC apparel are produced in Central American and South Asian sweatshops, where workers labor under degrading conditions, without union representation and struggle to survive on extremely low wages. Adopting the Designated Suppliers Program would ensure that university logoed apparel – UNC jerseys, sweatshirts, tee shirts and other clothing – is produced in factories where workers earn a living wage and have the right to collectively bargain with their employer.

The protests are part of a wave of student sit-ins that have swept across the country, as hundreds students from Appalachian State to Pennsylvania State to the University of Montana have held rallies and occupied administration buildings to demand their universities cut ties with sweatshops. The campaign is being organized by United Students Against Sweatshops. So far, over 42 universities have signed on to the Designated Suppliers Program.

For three years, students at UNC have been trying to convince university officials to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program. Their arguments have largely fallen on deaf ears. Organizers with the Carolina Sweatfree Coalition aim to increase the pressure on Chancellor Moesor with the sit-in and bring more attention to the ugly reality behind UNC’s apparel. “As UNC students we would like to wear our Carolina gear with pride,” said Salma Mirza, a senior history major at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Instead, due to Chancellor Moeser’s inaction, our clothes continue to be made in factories where workers don’t earn enough to support themselves, let alone their families.”

Yesterday Chancellor Moesor met with a delegation from the Coalition and rejected their proposal to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program. He argued that adopting the DSP would jeopardize the existence of the Carolina Covenant, the university’s scholarship program for low-income students, because the scholarship is funded by sales from licensed apparel. Today, Eva Panjwani, a sit-in participant and recipient of the Carolina Covenant scholarship, responded by saying, “As a Carolina Covenant Scholar, I feel that compromising the living and working conditions of others in order to fund my college education is unacceptable, especially from an institution that touts itself as ‘the university of the people.’”

The sit-in is set to continue until Chancellor Moesor commits to the Designated Suppliers Program. Another rally is also planned for tomorrow afternoon to continue to raise pressure.

#ChapelHillNC #WorkersAndGlobalization #CarolinaSweatfreeCoalition #UniversityOfNorthCarolinaAtChapelHill #UnitedStudentsAgainstSweatshops #DesignatedSuppliersProgram

Chapel Hill, NC – A delegation of fifteen city and university workers, student activists and union organizers delivered a petition of over 500 signatures on Oct. 26 to the University of North Carolina System General Administration, charging that workers’ voices were being silenced at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The petition was addressed to Erskine Bowles, who is president of the UNC general administration, and who is responsible for all 16 state universities in North Carolina.

The petition demanded that Bowles overrule the UNC-Chapel Hill administration’s censorship of an informational article on collective bargaining that was slated to appear last summer in the University Gazette, an official newsletter of the university. The article was submitted by the university’s Employee Forum as part of their regular yearly contribution to the Gazette, but was cut by the editors on the grounds that it was an “opinion piece.” Union organizers, workers and students say it was deliberately censored in order to suppress the growing movement among workers at the university for union recognition and collective bargaining rights.

Speaking at a press conference outside the General Administration office, Barbara Gear, a transit worker and member of North Carolina Public Service Workers Union (UE Local 150), said, “We’re here to speak up. A lot of people don’t even know what collective bargaining is. Where I work, everyone is afraid. We live in fear that we’ll get fired for union talk, for being around union organizers. Things are real bad, but everyone’s afraid, no one wants to lose their job.”

Gear continued, “I’m speaking out because it’s got to start somewhere. We have to get together to stand up for our rights. Working to build the union, that’s our main task right now.”

The protesters demanded that the university administration apologize and sit down at the table with workers to discuss their needs. The petition also expressed the signatories’ strong “support for UNC and Triangle area workers in their struggles to exercise their right to collective bargaining and support the repeal of Jim Crow-era N.C. G.S. 95-98, which criminalizes that right for public workers.”

Domenic Powell, member of Student Action with Workers (SAW), said, “We refuse to tolerate the censorship of collective bargaining issues. It’s a violation of human rights. We’re demanding the reversal of the censorship and that the university administration promote, not censor, dialogue on collective bargaining.”

Activists from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Students United for a Responsible Global Environment (SURGE), and the Young Democrats endorsed the protest. Tamara Tal, graduate student member of SDS, said, “Petitioning allowed us to talk with hundreds of people – students, workers and community members. North Carolina has a racist law, G.S. 95-98, that doesn’t allow public sector workers to negotiate contracts with the state. Talking about the censorship raised a lot of awareness and the petition shows the broad support that exists for workers rights.”

Focusing on the next steps in the campaign, Tal said, “We’ll continue to grow and broaden ourselves as a movement. We have four student groups, town and university workers, UNC hospital workers and community activists all involved. We’re going to build these connections for the future so we can unite all those who want to fight for change and build the struggle.”

#ChapelHillNC #StudentMovement #News #SDS #SouthernLaborMovement #UELocal150 #UniversityOfNorthCarolinaChapelHill #NCGS9598

Chapel Hill, NC – Campus and city workers, union organizers and students held a press conference at the university here, Sept. 13, to denounce University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill administration’s censorship of an article on collective bargaining. In June, an article that described the growing statewide movement for collective bargaining rights was cut from the University Gazette, an official publication distributed to all UNC workers. The North Carolina Public Sector Workers Union, UE Local 150, organized the press conference to demand the article be published.

Manzoor Cheema, a research technician at UNC and UE 150 member, said, “We need to put the pressure on Chancellor Moeser and the UNC Board of Governors. This censored article needs to be published immediately. Collective bargaining is a basic workers’ and human right and North Carolina is violating that right.”

UE 150, along with members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Student Action with Workers, demanded that UNC publish the censored article, issue a formal apology, and adopt a policy of non-interference in union organizing on campus. SDS member Tamara Tal said, “We call on students to join in this struggle against the blatant denial of workers’ rights. These workers drive our buses, clean our dorms and feed us everyday. This university works because they do. We as students need to support the workers in their internationally undisputed right to collective bargaining.”

North Carolina and Virginia are the only states in the U.S. that have laws denying public sector workers the right to collectively bargain with their employers. The North Carolina law, General Statute 95-98, was passed in the 1950s and is a holdover from the racist Jim Crow era. It was designed to hold down the growing trade union movement among African American workers, at a time when over half the public sector workers in the state were Black. Earlier this year the International Labor Organization found North Carolina in violation of international law because of the statute.

Ashaki Binta, coordinator for UE’s International Worker Justice Campaign, explained at the press conference, “We have a bill pending, House Bill 1583, to repeal this statute. We call on UNC to support that and to sit down across the table with workers in Chapel Hill to negotiate on the basic issues affecting their lives.”

The North Carolina legislature will take up the bill to repeal G.S. 95-98 in the summer of 2008. UE 150, along with the North Carolina NAACP and many other progressive organizations, is leading a major state-wide campaign to raise public support and put pressure on the politicians to repeal the statute.

Cheema explained, “We know what it’s going to take. We need a grassroots movement to empower rank-and-file workers and build community support to abolish General Statute 95-98.”

He continued, “Here at UNC, outreach to students can help shift the balance of power in our favor. Students should understand the pain and troubles of workers. UNC is a good school and they have many classes on labor rights and poverty issues – but students need to go beyond textbooks and see the reality for workers on this campus.”

In the coming weeks, UE 150 will continue to build up momentum by holding a town hall meeting to address the issue of collective bargaining in North Carolina and the struggle to repeal G.S. 95-98.

#ChapelHillNC #StudentMovement #News #SDS #UELocal150 #NC9598 #InternationalWorkerJusticeCampaign

On March 19, University of North Carolina (UNC) Chancellor Thorp implemented permanent 5% budget cuts, a measure that “will have deep impacts on student services across campus, class sizes and availability, and will result in dozens of workers losing their jobs and hundreds more positions being left unfilled, which will put a huge strain on already overworked employees of the university,” according to a press release from the organizers of the demonstration. The protesters demand that any budget cuts should “chop from the top” and that there should be full transparency and accountability in any decisions made around the budget crisis.

Brenda Denzler, vice-chair of the UNC Employee Forum, told the Board of Trustees earlier in the week that they must “publicly, openly and honestly state what the university’s policy is on how it will achieve the next round of budget cuts and whether it will reject budgets that do not include personnel cuts.”

“It’s ridiculous that while the chancellor is getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and average housekeepers are getting paid $25,000, the administrators think it best to save money by cutting low wage jobs,” said Rakhee Devasthali, an undergraduate and organizer with the coalition.

Salia Warren, an organizer with the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union (UE 150) at UNC, agreed that cuts should start from the top. “We demand that the cuts come from the top down, not the bottom up. The lowest paid administrator makes $95,000 a year – that’s four housekeeper’s jobs.”

“We’re launching a resistance and recovery campaign in all our union chapters across North Carolina,” said Warren, explaining the union’s approach to the economic crisis. “Workers during this period have to stand up and resist these budget cuts on their backs. Everything that’s happened so far is on the backs of the working class. We’ve got to say ‘we can’t take it anymore’. No one is bailing the workers out.”

Steve Milder, a graduate student in the History Department, explained how the budget cuts will have a dramatic impact on graduate students. “The budget cuts are making it unclear if as many graduate students will be able to keep their paid teaching positions next year,” said Milder. “We depend on those stipends to pay for our living and study expenses. If our salaries are cut, a lot of us will be forced to drop out.” Commenting on the process involved in cutting funding to graduate students, Milder added, “As graduate students, we feel shut out of the decision making process and are faced with a lot of uncertainty about our future.”

The demonstration was organized by a coalition made up of members from the Counter Cartographers Collective, United with the Northside Community NOW, Feminist Students United, Student Action with Workers, Students for a Democratic Society, UE 150, State Employees Association of North Carolina District 25, UNITY conference, Fight Imperialism Stand Together, HK on J, Progressive Faculty Network, along with many unaffiliated students, faculty and workers.

The coalition plans to continue organizing against the education cuts and layoffs, with more actions and educational events in the coming weeks.

#ChapelHillNC #CapitalismAndEconomy #Labor #News #BudgetCuts #capitalistCrisis #UE150