Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

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By Dave Schneider

Justice for Trayvon Martin

Jacksonville, FL – When the nearly all white jury returned with a not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, people all around the U.S. were outraged. Outside the courtroom in Sanford, Florida some 200 protesters gathered up and issued a united call for nationwide protests, which was answered in the coming days by activists across the country.

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By staff

Marching for justice in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville, FL – With their fists and their voices raised, more than 450 people took to the streets of downtown Jacksonville on July 20 to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman and demand justice for Trayvon Martin.

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By Fern

Community demands justice for Trayvon Martin.

Jacksonville, FL – About 400 people rallied, July 14, at Hemming Plaza in downtown Jacksonville to protest the outrageous not guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman.

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By staff

Southern Movement Assembly protest at Jacksonville Court House.

Jacksonville, FL – Chants of “We all count! We will not be erased!” rang out at Hemming Plaza as over 100 people from across the southern U.S. marched against racism and national oppression on April 28. The protesters marched to the Jacksonville Court House raising banners and signs demanding justice for Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Marissa Alexander and others oppressed by the racist criminal justice system.

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By staff

Jacksonville, FL – On April 21, union members from the Jacksonville area gathered in the IBEW 177 union hall to hear labor activist and author Joe Burns speak about his book, Reviving the Strike. Burns, an attorney and negotiator for the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America (AFA-CWA), spoke about the struggles of working people in the U.S. and argued that reviving the strike weapon is the key to rebuilding the labor movement.

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By Dave Schneider

Jacksonville, FL – Last month, the United States Navy announced the construction of a major command center for surveillance drones at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station (NAS), pending approval by Congress. According to the Pentagon, the center would cost an estimated $22 million and would make the North Florida city one of two new sites for drone operations in the US. The Navy will construct the other new command center on the West Coast.

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By staff

African American woman gets 20 years for firing warning shot to ward off abuser

Jacksonville, FL – On May 11, students from the civil rights group Dream Defenders protested at the sentencing hearing of Marissa Alexander, a young black woman who was convicted of aggravated assault stemming from an episode in 2010 where she fired a warning shot at her abusive ex-husband Rico Gray, who had previously beaten her.

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By Jared Hamil

Jacksonville, FL – Students and workers converged on an outdoor mall called The Landing, here, April 15 to confront Florida Governor Rick Scott at a Tea Party event. More than 50 people attended the rally organized by Fight Back Florida, a statewide labor-student coalition formed against Scott’s vicious attacks on working families, government employee unions and public education.

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By Fern

Workers rally at the City Hall steps in Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville, FL – Over 200 supporters of Jobs for Jacksonville rallied to protest Turner Construction's unjust and unlawful labor practices, Jan. 26. Union members from the Carpenters, IBEW, Boilermakers, Sheet Metal Workers and the Teamsters are waging a campaign against Turner Construction. Turner refuses to hire out-of-work construction workers in Jacksonville for the Duval County Courthouse building project. This is a blatant breach of Turner Construction's contract, which promised to provide many jobs for the economically hurting building trades people in Jacksonville.

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By Fern

Union members marching with signs and banners

Jacksonville, FL – On May 17, 150 union members from around north Florida and southern Georgia gathered outside the Hyatt Regency Riverfront Hotel here to expose a top-secret meeting of CUE – the Committee for a Union-Free Environment. Corporate bosses are trying to stop the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) from passing in Congress, an event that one union buster referred to as “Armageddon.” Unions like the Teamsters, Boilermakers, Electricians, Metalworkers, Carpenters, Plumbers and community and student supporters attended.

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